University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway has been appointed chair of the Division I Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Hemenway takes over for Ohio State University President William E. "Brit" Kirwan, who resigned his position on the Board after accepting duties as chancellor of the University of Maryland system.

In addition to assuming the role of chair of the Board, Hemenway, who is a member of the NCAA Executive Committee, also takes Kirwan's spot on the Executive Committee's five-person search committee that is in the process of selecting a new NCAA president. Current NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey will retire when his term expires at the end of the year.

Hemenway's term as Board chair will last two years. The Board next meets August 8 in Indianapolis.

Hemenway became Kansas' 16th CEO in 1995. He also served as chancellor at the University of Kentucky for six years. Before that, Hemenway was the dean of arts and sciences at the University of Oklahoma.

He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and his doctorate in English from Kent State University. Hemenway received an honorary doctorate from Nebraska-Omaha in 2000.

Hemenway takes over as chair of the Board at an important time. The group at its most recent meeting in April advocated for a package of academic enhancement proposals that would fortify Division I initial- and continuing-eligibility standards.

The Board also in August will receive a final report from the Football Study Oversight Committee, a group appointed by the Board two years ago and charged with recommending ways to enhance the health of college football.