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The U. announced Thursday that UC Davis Nona Richardson has accepted a position as senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator.
In January, Richardson will replace Mary Bowman, who plans to retire after 19 years at the U. The Tribune's Kurt Kragthorpe wrote about Bowman's impact on the U. Wednesday. Richardson will oversee academics, sports medicine, nutrition and other student-athlete support services.
"Nona brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position, but what really jumps out about Nona is her energy and passion for the job," said athletis director Chris Hill in a news release. "She is going to be a great advocate for our student-athletes and our support service areas in general."
Richardson serves in the same capacity at UC Davis, where she was also interim athletics director in 2011-12.
She also previously worked as an administrator at Ball State and Valparaiso. She was head volleyball coach at Valparaiso and Eastern Michigan, and prior to that was an assistant at Kentucky. As a player, she was a co-captain and team MVP during her time at Michigan State, from 1978 to 1981.
Originally from Albany, N.Y., she has a bachelor's degree in physical education from Michigan State and a master's in human behavior and society from Valparaiso.
"I am impressed at the strides the University of Utah has made in its first few years in the Pac-12 Conference, but even more exciting to me is the tremendous growth potential here," she said in the release. "I am looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."
— Matthew Piper
Twitter: @matthew_piper