One member, University of Kansas Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway, who currently serves on the Board, was reappointed as a representative of the Big 12 Conference.

Four new members have been appointed to the Board. One, Ohio State University President William E. Kirwan, was elected to serve as the incoming chair of the Board (see the November 20, 2000, issue of The NCAA News for further information on Kirwan). The others are Donald Beggs, president of Wichita State University; John M. Palms, president of the University of South Carolina, Columbia; and Randall J. Webb, president of Northwestern State University.

Following are biographical sketches of those three new members:

Beggs

Beggs, representing the Missouri Valley Conference, became the 12th president of Wichita State in January 1999. Before coming to Wichita State, Beggs completed a two-year term as chancellor of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Beggs earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in education from Southern Illinois and his doctorate in educational measurement and statistics in 1966 from the University of Iowa.

Palms represents the Southeastern Conference and replaces Charles Wethington, president at the University of Kentucky, on the Board of Directors.

Palms assumed the South Carolina presidency in 1991 and has advanced the university in the areas of scholarship, research and development. In athletics, Palms engineered a campaign to fund construction of the Strom Thurmond Fitness and Wellness Center, a 180,000-square-foot facility that will open in 2002.

Palms received degrees from The Citadel, Emory University and the University of New Mexico. He also served for four years in the U.S. Air Force, teaching for three years at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After three years at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Palms enjoyed a 23-year career at Emory as a scientist, administrator and professor of physics. In 1989, he became president of Georgia State University.

Webb

A one-time walk-on center for the Northwestern State football team as an undergraduate, Webb has been one of the most avid supporters of the university's athletics programs. He is a 1965 graduate of the school, and he earned a master's degree there in 1966. He received his doctorate in education from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1971.

Webb was a faculty member at Longwood College from 1966 to 1974. He also served in various administrative capacities, including as registrar, at Southeastern Louisiana University from 1976 to 1989. He returned to Northwestern State in 1989 as dean of instruction and graduate studies.