While President George W. Bush continues to work at filling his presidential cabinet, AU athletic director Dan Radakovich has nearly filled his cabinet of assistant athletic directors.
AU hired Radakovich in September as the University's athletic director after former athletic director Lee McElroy left for a similar position at the State University of New York-Albany.
Radakovich announced shortly before winter break that he filled vacant positions for assistant athletic director for marking, associate athletic director/senior women's administrator and assistant athletic director for business.
"I think it will bring a lot of new enthusiasm to the department," Radakovich told The Eagle.
Radakovich's new staff includes Chris Cordes, who will serve as the new the department's marketing director replacing Peter Sauer.
Sauer left AU for an Athletic Director position at the University of the Virgin Islands in the midst of an academic scandal involving members of the Men's Basketball team, according to past reports from the Washington Post.
Cordes previously worked as an independent sports management consultant and has advised the National Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament and the twenty-sixth Summer Olympics.
Robert Andrey joined AU as assistant athletic director for business operation on Dec. 8. Before joining AU, Andrey worked as director of ticket operations and community relations at Temple University. Andrey has also previously worked at soon-to-be AU athletic rival Lehigh University, which is a member of the Patriot League.
Radakovich's final hire is Athena Argyropoulos who is AU's new associate athletic director/ senior women's administrator. Argyropoulos joined the athletic department after spending 27 years as a counselor in the School of Public Affair's Department of Government. She is a 1978 AU alumnae, and was a three-year letter winner on the Women's Basketball team.
With the department's slate of assistant athletic director's nearly filled, assistant athletic director of communication Matt Winkler and his assistant Jamie Marmor both left AU shortly before winter break. Winkler left AU to take an assistant athletic director position at Colonial Athletic Association rival George Mason University.
Radakovich said he is currently conducting a search for a new assistant athletic director of communication, and hopes to fill the position in the next few weeks. In the interim, AU graduates John Senn and Nick Kurtz will handle athletic communication.
Senn graduated in May from the School of Communication, wrote for The Eagle and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Kurtz is a former goalkeeper on the Men's Soccer team, who graduated in 1999.
With these positions filled Radakovich said he will now begin to look at future of the athletic department on the eve of the university's move to the Patriot League. Future plans could include some major athletic facilities renovations, he said.
