After serving for five months as Southern Utah University’s interim athletic director, Debbie Corum has been given the job permanently.
SUU president Scott L. Wyatt announced Friday that Corum has earned the job going forward after replacing outgoing AD Jason Butikofer on an interim basis during the summer.
With her new, permanent job title, Corum becomes the first female athletic director in the state of Utah at the Division I level, joining 35 other female ADs nationally.
“Debbie arrived here with 28 years of experience in collegiate athletics. She quickly proved her vision and leadership are exactly what we need at this crucial time,” Wyatt said in a school news release. “SUU athletics will flourish under her compassionate and fearless direction.”
Prior to serving as the interim athletic director, Corum served as SUU’s senior associate athletic director since May of 2016, where she oversaw student athlete welfare, community relations, sport supervision, and served as a member of the athletic department’s executive leadership team.
“I have been blessed to learn from some of the best in the business of intercollegiate athletics: Mike Slive, Roy Kramer, and Ted Leland just to name a few,” Corum said in the news release. “When Harvey Schiller hired me to work in the SEC in 1989, this opportunity wasn’t even a dream. But the guidance from so many along the way has prepared me for this time to lead the SUU Thunderbirds into the next chapter.”
Before taking a position at UConn, Corum spent time at the Southeastern Conference (2000-2012) as the associate commissioner of sports administration. She also spent four years at LSU (1996-2000) as an associate/assistant athletic director for their Olympic Sports after spending two years at Stanford (1994-1996) as an assistant athletic director of intercollegiate sports.
Corum earned her bachelor of science degree in psychology and education from Vanderbilt University.