The members of the newly appointed NCAA Division I Board of Directors Transition Team have a broad range of experience in education and athletics.

Several members either currently serve as members of the NCAA Presidents Commission or have served at some previous time. Samuel H. Smith, president of Washington State University, currently serves as chair of the Commission and also will chair the Transition Team. Kenneth A. Shaw, chancellor of Syracuse University, is a member of the Commission and recently chaired the Division I Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure.

The board currently contains 16 members, including two women and two ethnic minority representatives. The Big West and Mid-American Athletic Conferences each will have a representative on the board during the transition period (but only one vote); by the time the restructuring plan becomes effective, they will agree upon a common representative, thus reducing the size of the board to 15, which was the number approved by the 1996 Convention.

The Division I Board of Directors and Management Council Transition Teams are constituted in the same manner as the administrative bodies will be when the new governance structure takes effect.

Biographical information on the members of the Division I Board of Directors Transition Team follows:

Carol A. Cartwright

Cartwright, the 10th president of Kent State University, has led the way as the first woman president at any Ohio public university or college. She has more than 25 years experience in education as a teacher, faculty member and administrator at three major universities: the University of California, Davis; Pennsylvania State University; and Kent. She frequently is called upon to provide leadership for state, regional and national organizations and has served as chair for the board of the American Association for Higher Education. She recently was appointed to serve on the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women.

Before coming to Kent State in 1991, she served as vice-chancellor for academic affairs at UC Davis and as dean for undergraduate programs and vice-provost at Penn State.

George M. Dennison

A native Montanan, Dennison became president of the University of Montana in 1990. He joined the university from Western Michigan University, where he served as provost and vice-president for academic affairs.

Before that, he taught history and held several administrative positions at Colorado State University; the University of Washington; and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

At Montana, he has helped to establish the Davidson Honors College and to secure private funding for a new facility for that college. He also has encouraged and supported research and graduate education and has focused attention on the fiscal health of the university.

Dennison has served on several national coordinating committees promoting cooperative international research and development projects and historic preservation.

Anthony J. DiGiorgio

DiGiorgio is a widely respected educator who has been involved with major issues affecting higher education over the last 25 years.

During his tenure at Winthrop University, he has led the transition to university designation and has achieved national visibility for the institution through his involvement in many regional and national associations.

Under DiGiorgio's leadership, Winthrop has been ranked as one of the top 15 regional universities in the South, according to U.S. News and World Report. It also has been featured in Barron's "Best Buys in College Education."

DiGiorgio has served as president of the Big South Conference and has been a member of the Presidents Commission.

He also has been chair of the S.C. Council of Presidents, which comprises all two and four-year publicly assisted institutions.

Milton A. Gordon

Gordon, a member of the Presidents Commission, assumed his duties as president of California State University, Fullerton, in 1990.

He previously was vice-president for academic affairs at Sonoma State University for four years, dean of the college of arts and sciences at Chicago State University for eight years, and director of the Afro-American Studies Program at Loyola University (Illinois) for six years.

He also taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology and in the Chicago public schools and served as a mathematician at the University of Chicago's Laboratories of Applied Sciences.

Gordon is California state representative to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and serves on a number of governing boards, including the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Edward B. Fort

Fort was a member of the original Presidents Commission when it was formed in 1984.

He is the seventh chief administrator of North Carolina A&T University. He has expanded the university's research efforts and has had special success with the university's noted engineering program. North Carolina A&T leads the nation in producing black undergraduate engineers.

Before coming to North Carolina A&T, Fort served for seven years as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Center System. He also was superintendent of schools in Sacramento, California, and Inkster, Michigan. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

President Clinton appointed Fort as the only black member of the NASA Committee to Redesign the Space Station. He also is the first black administrator to serve on NASA's Advisory Council.

E. Gordon Gee

Gee is the 11th president of Ohio State University, where he leads one of the nation's most comprehensive research universities.

An outspoken advocate for higher education, Gee has focused on furthering the university's teaching, research and service missions. He is overseeing a comprehensive planning and restructuring process to set institutional priorities for education in the 21st century.

He became one of the nation's youngest presidents when he assumed leadership of West Virginia University in 1981 at age 37. He became president of the University of Colorado in 1985 and president of Ohio State in 1990.

He has written or cowritten several books, including "Information Literacy: Revolution in the Library," and serves on several boards, including the Presidents Commission.

Alan F. Harre

Harre was inaugurated as the 17th president of Valparaiso in October 1988.

He began his educational career in 1973, when he joined the theology faculty of Concordia College (Nebraska). He also served that institution as assistant to the president, as dean of student affairs and briefly as acting president.

In 1984, he became president of Concordia College (Minnesota), which was his final position before joining Valparaiso.

Harre is author of "Close the Back Door" and numerous articles and reviews.

Carol C. Harter

Harter, former president and professor of English at State University College at Geneseo, was named the seventh president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 1995.

During her tenure at Geneseo State, Harter created the general education committee to oversee the general education program and monitor the core curriculum. She also created an internal grant fund to support faculty research and implemented an aggressive advocacy program. She initiated the first comprehensive fund-raising program in the 125-year history of the institution and increased private-sector support for faculty scholarship and research.

Harter is a member of the Presidents Commission and also serves on the NCAA Committee on Review and Planning.

Before joining Geneseo State, Harter was vice-president for administration and vice-president and dean of students at Ohio University.

Charles A. Kiesler

Kiesler assumed his duties as chancellor of the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1992.

He began his professional career as an associate and assistant professor at Yale University. In 1970, he became professor and department chair of psychology at the University of Kansas. From 1975 to 1979, he was executive director of the American Psychological Association.

He then joined Carnegie Mellon University, where he was the Walter Van Dyke Bingham professor of psychology and ultimately dean of humanities and social sciences. He moved to Vanderbilt University in 1985, where he served as provost and professor of psychology.

At Vanderbilt, he chaired the university's athletics committee, served as the faculty representative and held a position on the Southeastern Conference executive committee.

He currently is a member of the Presidents Commission.

Kiesler is widely published in his field and is the recipient of many academic honors. He has been recognized by the Society for Psychologists in Management for his contributions to the field.

William E. Kirwan

Kirwan is a member of the Presidents Commission and currently chairs a major NCAA committee -- the Special Committee on Agents and Amateurism.

Kirwan served for 25 years as a professor and administrator at the University of Maryland, College Park, before he was appointed president in 1989.

He joined the university in 1964 as an assistant professor of mathematics and rose through the faculty ranks as associate professor, professor and chair of the department of mathematics (1977 to 1981).

In 1981, he was appointed vice-chancellor for academic affairs, the chief academic post at the institution. As vice-chancellor, he raised admissions standards, increased the number of merit scholarships and graduate fellowships, and established an academic planning process.

As president, he has played a pivotal role in all of the university's most significant initiatives, including an increased emphasis on undergraduate education, selective enhancement of academic programs, recruitment and retention of distinguished faculty, achievement of diversity goals for underrepresented minorities, and a capital campaign of more than $200 million.

Samuel H. Smith

Smith, president of Washington State University, currently is chair of the Presidents Commission. He previously served as chair of the Commission's Division I subcommittee.

He became president of Washington State in 1985. During his tenure, he has strengthened support for research at the university while at the same time creating more opportunities for women and minorities.

A California native, Smith earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in plant pathology from the University of California, Berkeley. He was an assistant professor of plant pathology at California from 1965 to 1969 before joining Pennsylvania State University, where he was an assistant professor.

He became head of the plant pathology department at Penn State in 1976 and dean of the college of agriculture in 1981.

In Washington, he is well-known for establishing three Washington State University branch campuses to serve place-bound and job-bound students. He is chair of the Commission on Information Technologies of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and currently is leading a $250 million private fund-raising campaign.

Smith has been involved at the national level in biotechnology and has been recognized by the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges for his contributions to agricultural research.

Charles B. Knapp

Knapp, president of the University of Georgia, is the Southeastern Conference representative on the Presidents Commission.

Knapp previously served at Tulane University as senior vice-president from 1982 to 1985 and as executive vice-president from 1985 to 1987. He was a member of the Carter Administration, serving as special assistant to the secretary of labor and as deputy assistant secretary of labor for employment and training.

From 1972 to 1976, he was an assistant professor of economics and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Human Resources at the University of Texas at Austin. He also was visiting faculty member at George Washington University in 1972. He currently holds a faculty appointment in the department of economics at Georgia.

When he was appointed as the 20th president at Georgia in 1987, he was the youngest president at any of the nation's major research universities.

He is chair-elect of the board of directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges and is past chair of that association's Commission on Human Resources and Social Change.

V. Lane Rawlins

Rawlins is now in his sixth year as president of the University of Memphis.

A major accomplishment during his tenure has been gaining a $26 million appropriation from the Tennessee legislature for construction of the Ned R. McWherter Library, which opened in September 1994.

Also in September 1994, the university announced its first major campaign, "The Campaign for Memphis," which hopes to raise $76 million in private funds for scholarships, teaching assistance, fellowships, programs, facilities and equipment.

He is an avid sports fan and regular spectator at Memphis intercollegiate athletics events. He serves on the board of directors of the College Football Association and Conference USA.

Before joining Memphis, he served five years as vice-chancellor of academic affairs for the University of Alabama system. Previously, he was at Washington State University, where he began as an assistant professor of economics and rose to vice-provost.

Thomas J. Scanlan

Scanlan is the 18th president of Manhattan College, where he has served since 1987.

Previously, he was vice-chancellor and chief executive officer of Bethlehem University (1981 to 1987), director of finance and education at the New York Province of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (1978 to 1981), and principal and vice-principal of Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington, New Jersey.

He recently completed a term on the Presidents Commission.

Scanlan is a member of the board of directors of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, is vice chair of the board of trustees of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, and is a member of the board of trustees of Lewis University.

Kenneth A. Shaw

Shaw, a member of the Presidents Commission, has served as chair of the Division I Task Force to Review the NCAA Membership Structure.

The 10th chancellor of Syracuse University, Shaw has served as a university president for nearly 20 years. Before coming to Syracuse in 1991, he was president of the University of Wisconsin system, where he led a 26-campus system that serves more than 160,000 students.

He also was chancellor of Southern Illinois University from 1979 to 1986; president of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, from 1977 to 1979; and vice-president and dean of the university at Towson State University from 1969 to 1977.

Shaw is leading Syracuse through the most comprehensive restructuring process in its history. He is a member of the American College Testing Service board of trustees and a member of the boards of directors of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Council of Independent Colleges and Universities.

Shaw, who was an outstanding basketball player for Illinois State University as an undergraduate, was presented with an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in 1986.

David T. Tyson

Tyson, the University of Portland's 18th president, has instituted his university's first strategic plan, which focuses on future academic and programmatic efforts, and master plan, which is designed to ensure sensible progress of the university's physical growth.

During his presidency, the university has been listed as one of the top 15 private universities in the West by U.S. News and World Report. It also has experienced the greatest influx of gifts from alumni and friends in the history of the institution.

Tyson joined the University of Notre Dame faculty in 1980 as assistant professor of management. In 1982, he was chosen as executive assistant to Notre Dame President Theodore Hesburgh.

He was named vice-president for student affairs in 1984, a position he held until 1990, when he assumed the presidency at Portland.

Tyson is a member of the board of fellows and board of trustees for Notre Dame and the board of trustees at St. Edward's University (Texas).