Dan Beebe Named Big 12 Conference Commissioner

Irving, Texas - Big 12 Conference board of directors Chairman Harvey Perlman has announced the selection of Dan Beebe as the new Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. Beebe has extensive experience in managing collegiate athletics conferences, having served as the Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the Big 12 since February 2003 and as the Commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference for the 14 prior years.

"Dan Beebe brings to the Big 12 the experience and vision to advance the Big 12 into the next stage of its development as one of the preeminent collegiate athletics conferences in the United States," said Big 12 board chairman and University of Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman. "We expect his extensive background and experience in collegiate sports management will help us advantageously position the Big 12 Conference with its media, bowl, sponsor, and other external partners. We look forward to his leadership within the Conference as well as in the dialog on important issues facing intercollegiate athletics generally."

Beebe, who agreed to a five-year contract, begins his duties immediately as the Big 12's third commissioner, succeeding Kevin Weiberg, who stepped down in July.


In accepting the offer to become the third Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, Beebe stated, "I am excited and honored to lead the Big 12 Conference, and I am grateful to the Presidents and Chancellors of the members of the Big 12 for giving me this opportunity to address the exciting issues facing collegiate athletics in the near future, such as enhancing sportsmanship, developing new sources of revenues, ensuring compliance with the Conference and NCAA regulation scheme, and cementing the relationships among the outstanding Universities that are members in the Big 12 Conference.


"The solid basis that has been established over the first decade of the Conference's existence provides us with the momentum to confirm the Big 12's position as one of the leading collegiate athletic conferences in the nation. I will bring my experience as a conference leader and my contacts and broad experience in the sports community to bear in assisting our members in taking the Big 12 to the next level of success from a competitive and financial standpoint, as well as influencing the national agenda for collegiate athletics."


The 50-year old Washington state native joined the Big 12 staff in February 2003. As senior associate commissioner and chief operating officer he handled issues related to governance, national policy and legal affairs in addition to coordinating the day-to-day activities of the conference office. He also served as the conference liaison to the Big 12 board of directors. Beebe has been involved in the league's site selections for future championships, extending television contracts and enhancing football bowl opportunities. In addition, he has been active in establishing the conference's sportsmanship policies and procedures.

Prior to joining the Big 12, Beebe spent 14 years as commissioner of the Ohio Valley Conference from 1989-2003. While at the OVC, he served on the NCAA Division I Management Council and chaired the I-AA Governance Committee.

Beebe began his career in college athletics in 1982 as an NCAA enforcement representative. Following a one-year stint as assistant director of athletics at Wichita State, he returned to the NCAA in 1987 as director of enforcement.

A 1982 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law, Beebe lettered in football and was a team captain at Cal Poly Pomona where he earned a degree in social science in 1979. Beebe is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Born on February 27, 1957, he is married to the former Molly Scanlon and has four children, daughters Jessie and Elaine and sons Matt and Patrick.