INDIANAPOLIS - The Horizon League announced this week updates to its leadership on the Board of Directors and Council as Northern Kentucky President Dr. Ashish Vaidya has been appointed Board Chair and Milwaukee Director of Athletics Amanda Braun has been named Chair of the Council. In addition, Oakland President Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz has been selected as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and UIC Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz has been appointed to the role of Council Vice Chair.
"We are very excited about the new leadership coming in at the top of our governance structure as this is a group of dynamic individuals at the Board and Council levels who are taking on a leadership role in the League at a very important time in college athletics," said Horizon League Commissioner Julie Roe Lach. "I want to thank Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone and IUPUI Athletic Director Rod Perry for their incredible work as Chairs of the Board and Council, respectively, over the last two years. Their leadership helped direct the Horizon League through a difficult time and we are all truly appreciative of their hard work and guidance."
Vaidya has served as Northern Kentucky University's president since 2018, and had previously been the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for the past two years. He was also a member of the NCAA's Presidential Forum from 2018-21. The Presidential Forum's purpose is to assist the NCAA Division I Board of Directors in accomplishing its strategic mission in the Division I governance structure and help ensure that the NCAA core value involving presidential leadership of intercollegiate athletics at the campus, conference and national level is achieved.
Braun was named the Director of Athletics at Milwaukee in 2013 and is the first woman to serve as the Chair of the Council since the League redesigned its governance structure in 2017. This follows her serving as Vice Chair since the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year. She was honored as one of the Under Armour AD of the Year Award (ADOY) winners, given out by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 2020.
Pescovitz was named the President of Oakland University in 2017 and is distinguished by a range of academic, medical, research and business expertise.
Lipitz has served as the Director of Athletics at UIC since 2019 and has more than 20 years of intercollegiate athletics experience, including leadership positions at North Carolina State and Maryland.
ABOUT THE HORIZON LEAGUE
The Horizon League is an NCAA Division I athletics conference comprised of 12 member institutions located throughout the Midwest's major metropolitan cities. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the League and its members strive to be highly competitive athletically while committing to the total development of its student-athletes and creating a lasting impact on campus and in the community. For more information, visit HorizonLeague.com.
