August 14, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Charles (Chuck) Yrigoyen (pronounced YUR-i-gen) has been named the commissioner of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

"We are delighted that Chuck Yrigoyen has agreed to become our new Commissioner. His nearly twenty-year tenure in the Ivy League office has prepared him well for his new responsibilities. Chuck is a tremendous talent and will serve the Iowa Conference well," noted Dr. Frederick V. Moore, Buena Vista University president and chair of the Iowa Conference Presidents’ Council.

Yrigoyen spent the last 19 years at the Ivy League, including the last 10 as Associate Director for Athletic Administration and Championships. Hired in 1989 as Assistant Director for Public Information, Yrigoyen stepped into a newly created position overseeing the expansion of the office’s public information function, in particular, focusing on the League’s weekly press releases and publications. Yrigoyen subsequently developed the League’s first website and oversaw technical and logistical arrangements for the League’s football and basketball telecasts.

In 1998, Yrigoyen was promoted to Associate Director. Beginning in 2000, he relinquished his public information duties, and took primary responsibility for the League’s nine championship events and as-needed playoffs for NCAA bids, oversight of officiating in 10 sports, contest scheduling coordination, competition issues and television logistics.

"I am honored to have been chosen by the Iowa Conference presidents. I look forward to serving the student-athletes, coaches and administrators of the nine schools in this history-rich league. My family and I welcome our adventure to the Midwest and can't wait to get that adventure started,” stated Yrigoyen.

From 1998-2001, Yrigoyen served on the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee. In 2007, Yrigoyen was appointed to the NCAA Men's and Women's Soccer Rules Committee. Additionally, Yrigoyen served on the Ivy League Sportsmanship Committee and was an Ivy League representative at the NCAA Sportsmanship Summit in 2003.

Yrigoyen began his athletic administration career as an intern at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. In 1983, he was appointed to an internship in the athletic communications office at Princeton University. After two years in that position, Yrigoyen was elevated to Director of Athletic Communications at Princeton, overseeing all publicity for the school’s 37-sport varsity athletic program. He also did extensive radio and television commentary for Princeton basketball and football broadcasts.

A native of Reading, Pa., Yrigoyen is a 1982 graduate of Syracuse University. He and his wife, Paula, have two sons, Darin, 16, and Hunter, 12.

Yrigoyen begins his duties as the IIAC’s second full-time commissioner on October 1, succeeding John Cochrane, who resigned in May after seven years in the IIAC office to become Director of Athletics at Cornell College.

The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is composed of nine independent, regionally accredited, residential four-year liberal arts colleges that share common academic philosophies and goals and that place primary emphasis on the academic progress of students.

-30-