The University of Missouri has announced the hiring of the school’s first female athletic director, plucking 49-year old Desiree Reed-Francois from her previous job as athletic director at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. At Mizzou, Reed-Francois will replace Jim Sterk, who stepped down two weeks ago. Reed-Francois leaves her job at UNLV after being hired in 2017.
The historic move at MU makes Reed-Francois the second AD at a school in the 14-member Southeastern Conference, joining Candice Storey-Lee of Vanderbilt University, hired just last year.
University of Missouri president Mun Choi welcomed Reed-Francois to the Columbia campus, calling it a “transformational day for Mizzou athletics”, noting the new hires “unsurpassed passion for student-athletes and bold, visionary skills to propel a championship culture at MU”.
Among her notable moves at UNLV, Reed-Francois angled the Rebels football program into the Las Vegas Raiders new Allegiant Stadium off the Las Vegas Strip, with the Rebels beginning play in their ‘new digs’ last season. In addition, the Rebels, members of the Mountain West Conference, opened a new $35 million football complex.
Prior to her work at UNLV, Reed-Francois worked in various athletic departments across the country, including Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Cincinnati, Fresno State, San Jose State, and California.
Photo credit – University of Missouri Athletics / MUTigers.com / Columbia, MO
