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UW-Oshkosh Assistant Chancellor, Athletics Darryl Sims has been named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Constitution Committee.

Appointed by the NCAA Board of Governors, the 23-member committee will begin its work immediately and identify the core principles that define college sports and propose a new governance model that allows for quicker change without sacrificing broader values, while either reaffirming or redefining those values.

Darryl Sims

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, one of five independent members of the Board of Governors and former president at Texas A&M University, will chair the committee.

“Each of the appointees offers important insight on the transformation that’s needed for the future,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said. “The time is now for substantive change. And future change must focus on serving student-athletes.”

Leadership bodies from all three NCAA divisions provided nominations for the review committee. From those nominees, the board appointed university presidents, conference commissioners, athletics directors, and students from Divisions I, II and III, and independent members of the Board of Governors.

NCAA Constitution Committee

Brad Bankston – Commissioner, Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Sandy Barbour – Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Penn State University
Dean Bresciani – President, North Dakota State University
Greg Christopher – Vice President for Administration, Director of Athletics, Xavier University
Mary Sue Coleman – Former President, Association of American Universities, Independent Board Member
Troy Dannen – Director of Athletics, Tulane University
John DeGioia – President, Georgetown University
Robert Gates (chair) – Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Former President, Texas A&M University, Independent Board Member
Robin Harris – Executive Director, The Ivy League
Chris Howard – President, Robert Morris University
Gayle Hutchinson – President, California State University, Chico
Jim Johnson – Director of Athletics, Pittsburg State University
Megan Koch – Track & Field Student-Athlete, Colorado College
Linda Livingstone – President, Baylor University
Shane Lyons – Director of Athletics, Associate Vice President, West Virginia University
Madeleine McKenna – Volleyball Student-Athlete, California University of Pennsylvania
Fayneese Miller – President, Hamline University
Jere Morehead – President, University of Georgia
Gloria Nevarez – Commissioner, West Coast Conference
Jim Phillips – Commissioner, Atlantic Coast Conference
Julie Ruppert – Commissioner, Northeast-10 Conference
Darryl Sims – Assistant Chancellor, Athletics, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Kendall Spencer – Track & Field Student-Athlete, University of New Mexico

Sims is in his 12th year as UW-Oshkosh’s Assistant Chancellor, Athletics.

Since being hired in 2010, Sims led the renovation efforts for the UW-Oshkosh Softball Park and Kolf Sports Center’s new floor, track and bleachers. He also helped obtain funding for the videoboard and other amenities at the Oshkosh Sports Complex while securing a five-year apparel agreement for the 19-sport athletics program with Under Armour.

Sims served as UW-Oshkosh’s assistant director of athletics from 2007-10. During that time, he worked on event management and corporate sponsorships for the department

Sims, one of 11 graduates of the 2010 NCAA Fellows Leadership Development Program, was a football coach for the Oakland Raiders and three NFL Europe teams. He served as an assistant for the Amsterdam Admirals from 2000-05, helping them to the World Bowl title in 2005. Sims was the head coach for the Cologne Centurions and a defensive line coach for the Raiders during 2006. NFL Europe closed after the 2007 season, when Sims was an assistant for the Berlin Thunder.

Sims’ coaching resume also includes NFL preseason internships with the Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets and Washington Redskins.

In 1998, Sims joined UW-Oshkosh as a part-time assistant football coach. He spent two seasons in that role before working with the UW-Oshkosh Foundation from 2001-05. Beginning in 2007, Sims was part of the development team for the Oshkosh Sports Complex. He also helped gain major corporate sponsorships from J. J. Keller & Associates and the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Sims, a defensive end, was a two-time All-Big Ten selection for the University of Wisconsin in 1981-82. He was picked 20th overall in the 1985 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers and played in 58 games for the Steelers and the Cleveland Browns from 1985-88.

Sims is actively involved in many local organizations, including the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau, Oshkosh Area Community Foundation, Oshkosh Rotary Club, and the Boys & Girls Club. He is a 2010 graduate of Leadership Oshkosh.

A member of the Chancellor’s Executive Cabinet at UW-Oshkosh, Sims has chaired numerous Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference committees. In 2019, Sims was appointed to a NCAA working group that examined issues highlighted in recently proposed federal and state legislation related to student-athlete name, image, and likeness.

Sims and the UW-Oshkosh Athletics Department have hosted nearly 20 NCAA Division III Championships as well as numerous Division III regional and conference championship competition since 2010.

The Winston-Salem (N.C.) native earned his bachelor’s degree (2003) in speech communication and master’s degree (2005) in educational leadership from UW-Oshkosh.

NCAA Constitution Committee Release