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First African-American Hired as University of Maryland Athletic Director

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland named Kevin Anderson as its new athletic director Saturday. Anderson previously held the same job for 5 1/2 years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Anderson will be in charge of Maryland’s 27 athletic teams. He takes over for Debbie Yow, who left Maryland for North Carolina State in July.

At Army, Anderson was responsible for a 25-sport program that served more than 900 cadet-athletes.

He was chosen by a Maryland search committee that included acting president Nariman Farvardin and president-designate Dr. Wallace Loh.

“The search committee worked extremely hard and, in the final hour, Dr. Loh and I were in complete agreement that Kevin was the best person to lead Maryland athletics,” Farvardin said.

Anderson led a team that negotiated a five-year, $55 million deal with CBS to televise the Army-Navy game. He also worked on the agreement that will bring college football to Yankee Stadium, beginning this season with the Army-Notre Dame game.

While at Army, Anderson helped develop and manage a budget of $25 million and turned an operating deficit of more than $1 million dollars into a $2.73 million surplus. Sponsorship, ticket sales and fundraising revenue all increased during his time there.

“I am convinced that his leadership will raise Maryland athletics to even greater heights,” Loh said.

Anderson graduated from San Francisco State University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He became the first African-American athletic director at Army upon his introduction in December 2004.

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