photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod speaks at the FBI and KU Cybersecurity Conference on April 4, 2025.

Perhaps one of the few entities getting revamped more than KU’s football stadium is the NCAA itself. University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod now has a front row seat for both projects.

Girod has been appointed to both the overall Board of Governors and to the Division I Board of Directors for the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

With the appointments — which last through August 2029 — Girod will become the top ranking Big 12 Conference member to serve on the NCAA governing board, which is responsible for providing strategic leadership for the organization. Baylor University President Linda Livingstone currently serves as the chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, but her term expires this month.

“It’s an honor to serve on these boards and to partner with peer institutions on behalf of student-athletes across the nation,” Girod said. “This is a challenging and important moment for collegiate athletics and higher education, and I’m glad for the opportunity to help ensure KU and the Big 12 Conference are represented in discussions that impact our students.”

The association is on the front edge of a rapidly evolving landscape for college athletics. Just in the last year, the NCAA has been involved in lawsuits that have led to universities being allowed to share revenue with student-athletes, changes in scholarship numbers and cultural debates about rules for transgender athletes, among other issues.

Girod will be one of nine voting members on the NCAA governing board, which includes presidents or chancellors from each NCAA division, plus student-athletes, league commissioners and other national leaders.

Girod will be part of a larger group on the Division I board, which handles all types of legislative and management matters for Division I schools, which typically have the largest athletic departments in the country. The Division I board includes 20 presidents and chancellors, including one from each of the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, 10 from the remaining NCAA Football Championship Subdivision and Division I conferences, the chair of the NCAA Division I Council, one faculty athletics representative, one senior woman administrator representative and two student-athletes.

Girod’s appointment comes as he also is serving a term as the chair of the Big 12 Conference board of directors.

“I’m thrilled Chancellor Girod will represent the Big 12 Conference on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and the NCAA Board of Governors,” said Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. “Chancellor Girod believes deeply in the value of athletics and higher education, and he recognizes the positive impact student-athletes have on our universities. Furthermore, he is recognized as a national leader and respected voice on policy matters impacting college athletics. The NCAA and the Big 12 will benefit from his leadership as we navigate the evolving world of college athletics.”

Girod, who is in his eighth year serving as KU’s chancellor, also has risen to the position of vice chair of the board of directors for the Association of American Universities, which is a highly selective organization for top research institutions in North America.

The most recent appointment gives KU and the state a key vantage point in important national issues, the leader of the organization that oversees Kansas’ public universities said.

“Chancellor Girod has an established track record of successful stewardship of KU including record-setting enrollment, national designation for KU’s Cancer Center and nine consecutive years of increased research expenditures,” said Blake Benson, chair of the Kansas Board of Regents. “At the same time, he has become a national leader through his roles with the Association of American Universities, the Big 12 Conference and now the NCAA, ensuring that the University of Kansas is represented in important policy discussions and has a role in shaping the future of higher education. The Regents are grateful for Chancellor Girod’s efforts, and we look forward to his continued leadership.”