The Division I Board of Directors elected Harvey Perlman to chair the group beginning at the close of the April 2010 meeting. Perlman, the chancellor of Nebraska, will replace Clemson President Jim Barker, whose term will expire in April.

The Board selected a new chair to allow him to serve on the search committee for a new president, creating a smoother transition for the search team.

Perlman was named chancellor of Nebraska on April 1, 2001. He had served in the role on an interim basis since July 16, 2000. Before assuming the chancellor’s responsibilities, Perlman was dean of the school’s college of law and interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Perlman earned his bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from Nebraska and was editor of the Nebraska Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif, a law honors society, during law school. He began his career as a teaching fellow at the University of Chicago Law School and joined Nebraska’s law faculty in 1967 until 1974. After nine years teaching at the Virginia’s law school, he returned to Nebraska as dean.

Perlman’s area of study is torts and intellectual property. A member of the Nebraska and American Bar Associations, he is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has been a member of the Division I Board of Directors since May 2008 and the NCAA Executive Committee since August 2008. His term on both groups expires in 2013.

He also serves as chairman of the Bowl Championship Series Presidential Oversight Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Big 12 Conference.