Rutgers to hire woman as new athletic director: Report

As Rutgers takes a giant step into its future by joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014, the university just might be taking an even bigger leap right now by hiring a woman the run the athletic department for the first time in the New Jersey school's history.

Julie Hermann, most recently the No. 2 athletic administrator at Louisville, has been named the school’s new athletic director -- making her one of just three women at a BCS program to currently hold the athletic department’s top position (N.C. State’s Debbie Yow and California’s Sandy Barbour are the others), according to two people familiar with the process. Both people requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the school. Hermann, 49, has most recently served as the Cardinals’ senior associate athletic director and senior woman administrator, reports NJ.com.

Hermann was chosen for the position at Rutgers over Wisconsin deputy athletic director Sean Frazier following an emergency voting session this morning by the school’s 11-member Board of Governors. That session was necessitated after Rutgers’ six-member Executive Athletic Committee deadlocked at 3-3 in trying to choose between Hermann and Frazier as Tim Pernetti’s successor.

Pernetti resigned on April 5 in the wake of the Mike Rice scandal.

Though she lacks direct football experience, Hermann oversaw 20 of Louisville’s 23 sports. The school is coming off a victory in a BCS bowl game (Sugar Bowl), a national championship in men’s basketball and a Final Four appearance in women's basketball.

She has worked in the Louisville athletic department since 1998. An introductory press conference is expected to take place later today.