UMSL Chancellor Tom George has been re-elected chairman of the presidents council of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. During his first two-year term he oversaw expansion of the conference from 14 to 17 colleges and universities.
Tom George, chancellor of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, recently was re-elected chairman of the presidents’ council of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the athletic conference in which UMSL competes.
“During Chancellor George’s tenure as chair of the GLVC council, the league has expanded to 17 member institutions (from 14) and is now the largest conference in NCAA Division II,” said Jim Naumovich, commissioner of the league. “He has been actively engaged at all levels of the governance and administration of the league and has provided excellent leadership in his role as chair. I am quite pleased that Chancellor George has agreed to complete another two-year term.”
As head of the council, George also represents the conference at NCAA meetings with leaders from the 23 Division II leagues in the U.S.
George, an enthusiastic fan of the 11 men and women’s Triton teams at UMSL, said he is delighted with this leadership role.
“I am honored to continue as chair of the GLVC,” said George. “This is an especially exciting time for the conference as we continue to expand its size and the number of sports offered across the campuses. We also have added football as an 18th championship sport and have granted two institutions in Ohio associate membership for football for fall 2012. They are Urbana University and Central State University in Dayton.”
George added that football “is not on the horizon” for UMSL. Current schools offering football programs include William Jewel College in Liberty, Mo.; Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla; Quincy (Ill.) University; McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.; Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro; St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind.; and the University of Indianapolis (Ind.).
The GLVC was established in 1978. In addition to the institutions mentioned above, the conference includes: Bellarmine University, Rensselaer, Ind.; Drury University, Springfield, Mo.; University of Illinois–Springfield, Ill.; Lewis University, Lockport, Ill.; Maryville University, St. Louis, Mo.; Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Ky.; Rockhurst, Kansas City, Mo.; University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Ind.; University of Wisconsin–Parkside and UMSL.
