Oct. 11—The University of New Mexico hopes to have its next athletic director named in a little over a month and up and running by early 2025.

And whoever that person is, according to a message from UNM President Garnett S. Stokes emailed to the UNM campus community Friday morning, they will have a “crucial role in shaping the he general direction and importance of UNM athletics in a turbulent national landscape. college sports” while ensuring that Lobo Athletics’ place in the local UNM, Albuquerque and New Mexico communities is not lost.

“The impact of this position extends beyond athletics,” Stokes wrote. “It enhances our university’s reputation, engages the community and contributes to the overall student experience.”

Eddie Nuñez resigned Aug. 17 after seven years as UNM’s AD to take the same position at the University of Houston in the Big 12 Conference. His top assistant, associate AD David Williams, has served as interim vice president for athletics since August 21.

Stokes also asked the campus community for feedback on the process, including submitting names of individuals who should be considered for the position.

In a contract signed Sept. 9, UNM hired Atlanta-based Parker Executive Search to lead the national search for the position, which the University said Friday in a news release will have an appointment deadline and submission of applications set for October 25.

Links for both are available on the UNM Executive Search page: Executivesearch.unm.edu.

Parker, who oversaw the search that landed Nuñez in 2017 and recently worked with UNM on the December recruitment of first-year Lobo football coach Bronco Mendenhall, will remain in close contact with the search committee that UNM formed and publicly nominated for the position. Friday for the first time.

It includes President Del Archuleta, a long-time supporter of Lobo Athletics, former chairman of the NMSU Board of Trustees and board member of nearly a dozen other public service-related organizations over the years, including having been nominated by governors of both parties over the years to high-level appointments. . The rest of the search committee includes university leaders, faculty, alumni and community representatives, who will review candidates sent by Parker and conduct interviews.

A recommendation will ultimately be forwarded to Stokes, who will proceed with the hiring.

UNM Athletic Director Search Committee

—Del Archuleta (President), Lobo Club Board of Directors

—Amy Beggin, AD Senior Associate for Compliance and Senior Women’s Administrator

—Emma Branson, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Softball

—Doug Campbell, UNM Foundation Board

—Finnie Coleman, associate professor, Department of English

—Ronica Martinez, medical director, SHAC and assistant professor, family and community medicine

—Jill Trujillo, head coach, women’s golf

—Randy Velarde, former chair of the UNM Foundation Board