President Peterson Elected to Chair NCAA’s Board of Governors

President G.P. "Bud" Peterson to chair the highest governing body of the NCAA.

Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson has been elected as chair of the NCAA’s Board of Governors, the highest governing body of the NCAA. The group oversees Association-wide issues and is tasked with ensuring that each division operates consistently with the policies and principles of the NCAA.

The board includes 16 presidents and chancellors from Division I, II and III universities. NCAA President Mark Emmert and the chairs of the Division I Council and Divisions II and III Management Councils serve as ex officio members.

“The NCAA is the outstanding organization that it is today because of the engagement of leaders from more than 1,100 colleges and universities,” said Peterson. “It is my honor to serve in this leadership role, which supports more than 460,000 student-athletes on 19,000 teams throughout the U.S. Together with the combined efforts of the institutional leadership, athletics directors and academic support staff, we are committed to working to ensure the lifelong success of our student-athletes.”

Peterson has served as a member of the board since May 2016, representing the Atlantic Coast Conference. He serves on the Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee to Promote Cultural Diversity and Equity. Peterson has also served on the Division I Board of Directors since January 2015.

While an undergraduate student at Kansas State, he lettered three years as a tight end/wide receiver for the Wildcats football team.

“President Peterson’s leadership and insights will be valuable as the Association continues its efforts to protect the pathway to opportunity that college sports provide for student-athletes in all three divisions,” said Emmert.

In addition to their on-field success, Georgia Tech student-athletes continue to excel academically. In each of the past three years, Georgia Tech recorded a school-record Graduation Success Rate (84 percent according to the most recent NCAA figures from November 2015). They also recorded outstanding scores in the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which provides a real-time NCAA metric to measure the success of institutions in moving student-athletes toward graduation. The latest APR statistics, released in April, reported that 13 of Georgia Tech’s 15 athletic teams scored 980 or better out of a possible 1,000 points. Eighty-one ACC league teams received APR recognition awards — the most of any Autonomy 5 conferences.

The NCAA Board of Governors meets quarterly at the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.

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