The University of Alaska Anchorage has a new athletic director, naming Keith Hackett to lead the department.
After a tumultuous past several months, Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services Bill Spindle believes Hackett is the right person to help heal the program.
“Keith is a guy that has a tremendous reputation in the athletic world for being a relationship builder, someone who knows the business; who works well with people both inside the university and outside,” Spindle said. “And that’s what we’re looking for.”
Hackett replaces Steve Cobb, who was fired in May after questions arose about his handling of a 2011 incident where former hockey coach Dave Shyiak struck a player with a stick during practice.
Hackett comes to UAA with 36 years of higher-education experience, serving the last nine years as the senior associate athletic director for internal affairs at the University of Nevada.
He is expected to start work on Oct. 1.
Josh is the Statewide Morning News Reporter/Producer for Alaska Public Media | jedge (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8455 | About Josh
