UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart has been named chair of the SEC Athletics Directors, it was announced Wednesday by the league.
Barnhart, who is in his 16th year as UK’s AD , was selected by a unanimous vote of his fellow SEC ADs during a meeting on Tuesday in Birmingham.
In his new role, Barnhart will chair all meetings of the league’s athletics directors. He succeeds retiring Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs who served as chair of the SEC AD’s since 2012.
“Mitch’s experience as a proven leader makes him uniquely qualified to head our group of athletics directors during this particularly important time in the history of intercollegiate athletics,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey in a press release. “He commands the ability to identify solutions to problems and to navigate complex issues with a diverse group of strong leaders from our various institutions. I look forward to working with Mitch in his new role.”
Barnhart, who is now the longest-tenured AD in the SEC, has been active in numerous SEC projects. He’s recently worked with SEC Compliance Committee and the SEC Network Content Committee, which helped produce the most successful launch of a new cable channel in television history.
Barnhart also just completed his first year as a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee in 2017. He is also a member on the NCAA Division I Council, the chair of the NCAA Competition Oversight Committee and is a member of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
Needless to say, there aren’t many, if any more qualified for this new position than the UK AD.