Kim Chandler, the athletic director at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has been named athletic director at Macalester College.
Chandler headed the Beloit Athletic Department for four years, overseeing 18 varsity programs, academic course offerings and intramurals. She will begin July 14.
Before taking charge of the Beloit program, Chandler was the head women's basketball coach for three years at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Mich., where she also served the university as Senior Women's Athletic Administrator and Assistant Athletic Director of Business Affairs for the NCAA Division II institution.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Macalester Department of Athletics and to become part of an outstanding institution and campus community," Chandler said. "My staff and I will work hard to continue the momentum to build an athletic department, student-athlete experience and campus athletic and recreation center (The Leonard Center) that mirrors the academic excellence of one of the nation's finest institutions."
During her time at Beloit, Chandler initiated and developed an athletic facility master plan that involves a multi-million dollar enhancement of the college's athletic facilities. During the just-completed 2007-08 school year, The Sports Center saw numerous changes, including state-of-the-art scoreboards with statistical capabilities for basketball and volleyball and a refurbished Fitness Center featuring new cardio and weight-training equipment.
Chandler was a basketball standout at Ohio Northern University in the mid-1980s and graduated with distinction as the school's No. 4 all-time career point scorer, and as a senior helped Ohio Northern go 23-4 and finish as the nation's No. 5-ranked Division III team. Following assistant basketball coaching stints at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and Florida Southern College, she began her head coaching career at California State University-Northridge in 1991.
Chandler was head basketball coach at her alma mater Ohio Northern from 1995-2001 before moving on to Saginaw Valley State from 2001-04. At Beloit, she served as chairperson of the Midwest Conference Competition Committee.
She graduated from Ohio Northern with a B.A. in History, Sports Medicine and Health, and received a Master of Education degree in Exercise Physiology and Wellness from Bowling Green State in 1989.
Chandler succeeds Travis Feezell, who is stepping down after three years as athletic director to teach Sports Administration at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.
"Kim is a natural for this position," said Laurie Hamre, vice president for student affairs. "She understands the life of student athletes at a liberal arts college, where athletics are important but academics and education of the whole student are central. And her experience is especially valuable as we open our new facilities (The Leonard Center) and integrate athletics into the life of the campus."
