Hermann introduced as Rutgers AD
Julie Hermann was named Rutgers athletic director, tasked with leading the university back to respectability and into the American Athletic Conference before the Scarlet Knights join the Big Ten in 2014.
"She is one of the most respected athletics administrators in the country and she was deeply involved in moving Louisville from Conference USA to the Big East and from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference," said Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi. :Her 15 years of leadership experience will be an invaluable asset to the university as we prepare to enter the Big Ten
Hermann, 49, will be the third female athletic director among all BCS programs, joining California's Sandy Barbour and North Carolina State's Debbie Yow. She was most recently the senior associate athletic director at Louisville, where she had a marketing and brand management focus and netted $10 million in gift agreements in the past year.
Tim Pernetti resigned his post on April 5, two days after basketball coach Mike Rice was fired for physical, verbal emotional abuse of his players, which was caught on video and aired on national television programs, sparking a firestorm of reaction in New Jersey and beyond.
"Rutgers is poised to soar," said Hermann. "With a world-class faculty and academic reputation, a strategic location and the power and reach of the Big Ten, the university is positioned to create a best-in-class experience for every student who accepts the challenge to learn and compete at Rutgers."
Hermann will receive an annual base salary of $450,000, according to Rutgers. She can earn $50,000 based on achievement of academic and athletic performance goals as determined by the president.
Rutgers reviewed 63 candidates in a national search and committe co-chair Kate Sweeney said Hermann's "student'centered approach to athletics" separated her from the competition.
Hermann played volleyball at Nebraska and was the head coach of the volleyball team at Tennessee before joining the Louisville athletic department in 1998.
In addition to the Rice scandal, men's lacrosse coach Brian Brecht was suspended April 19. At that time, Rutgers launched an inquiry into allegations of verbal abuse led by acting athletic director Carl Kirschner. Brecht was reinstated Tuesday.
