San Jose State athletic director Tom Bowen was named Monday to the same position at Memphis, where he will lead the Tigers program as it makes a transition to the Big East.
The hiring of Bowen, who has served as San Jose State's athletic director for the past 7-12 years, was announced Monday by university president Shirley Raines at a brief news conference.
Bowen, 50, was the unanimous choice by the university's search committee, Raines said. He will begin work in June, replacing R.C. Johnson, who retired last November after 43 years in athletics at nine universities.
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Bowen will lead Memphis when it moves from Conference USA to the Big East in 2013.
Bowen said he has met with new football coach Justin Fuente, who was hired after Larry Porter was fired just days before Johnson announced he was leaving. Bowen also will oversee a men's basketball program that has made the NCAA Tournament six times in the past seven seasons.
Bowen said he got goose bumps when he entered the university's athletics building. One of his biggest challenges will be improving the football program, which went 3-21 in two seasons under Porter.
From 2005 to 2008Bowen's fist four seasons as athletic director with Dick Tomey as coachSan Jose State produced more wins than any at the school since 1990 to 1993, with 23.
Bowen said that success was achieved by being active in the San Jose community and attending as many public meetings as possible.
"It was kind of a process of uniting a city and a university and an academic community," Bowen said.
Bowen has held athletics administration positions at the University of California and Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif. He also worked for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers as a director of community affairs.