EWU AD Chaves takes North Dakota job

Bill Chaves, athletic director at Eastern Washington since 2007, on Saturday was named to a similar position at the University of North Dakota.

At EWU, Chaves was a two-time winner of national Athletic Director of the Year honors. Under his tenure, the school’s football team won five conference titles and one national championship.

A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday in Grand Forks, N.D.

“After a decade of memories that I will carry for a lifetime, I have been offered and accepted the UND AD’s position,” Chaves said on Twitter. “I will reserve further comment until Tuesday’s PC, but please know my family and I owes a huge debt of gratitude to many in the EWU (Cheney/Spokane) community...”

Chaves, 51, will oversee 17 NCAA Division I athletic programs at UND, which currently competes with Eastern in the Big Sky Conference and also is a member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. North Dakota is scheduled to move to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020.

Chaves replaces Brian Faison, who retired Dec. 31 after leading the athletic department for nearly a decade.

“Eastern will greatly miss Bill Chaves, who has created a lasting legacy for this university. I wish him excellent continued success,” EWU president Dr. Mary Cullinan said.

Other finalists were University of Texas at San Antonio deputy athletic director Kellie Elliott, Western Michigan senior associate athletic director M. Montgomery Porter III, and UND associate athletic director Michael Mannausau.