(Cedar Falls, IA) -- Bob Bowlsby has been named the Interim Athletic Director at the University of Northern Iowa. Bowlsby has had a long career in collegiate athletics, including being the AD for UNI, Iowa, Stanford and most recently as the Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, before he retired.
Bowslby, a native of Waterloo was UNI’s Athletic Director from 1983-91. He was inducted into the University of Northern Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 and currently serves as a member of the steering committee for UNI’s $250 million Our Tomorrow campaign that has raised over $243 million to date. Bowlsby’s hire on an interim basis is subject to approval by the Iowa Board of Regents.
Nook indicated that Bowlsby will serve in this role until a national search to fill the position on a full-time basis is completed, and that individual can begin their duties in Cedar Falls.
“On behalf of the entire UNI community, we are extremely grateful to Bob Bowlsby for agreeing to lead UNI Athletics on an interim basis,” Nook said. “Bob’s passion for our institution and his dedication to Panther Athletics are both well documented, as well as his extensive resume of expertise in collegiate athletics. Bob was the first individual that came to mind when this opening arose and we are thankful that his wife, Candice, their children and grandchildren have agreed to ‘loan’ him to us in this interim role until our next Director of Athletics is in place.”
“Very few opportunities could have lured me out of retirement, even on a short-term basis,” Bowlsby indicated. “Plenty of people have contacted me, but when President Nook called I certainly listened intently. The invitation to help set up the next Director of Athletics at UNI for success was an opportunity that I simply couldn’t refuse. UNI gave me such a remarkable opportunity as a young professional in collegiate athletics for which I’m eternally grateful. So much of what I learned at UNI helped guide my decisions throughout my career journey. I owe a great deal to UNI, and it is my distinct pleasure to serve in this interim role until the position can be filled on a full-time basis.”
Bowlsby was appointed commissioner of the Big 12 Conference in 2012 and served in that capacity for over a decade prior to retiring in 2022.