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������ President Todd Diacon and Vice President for Student Affairs Lamar R. Hylton formally introduced Randale L. Richmond as the university’s new director of athletics at a morning virtual press conference held Thursday, April 15. Richmond currently serves as senior associate athletic director at Old Dominion University. He was named Kent State’s 12th director of athletics on April 9, and he will begin at the university on May 1.

“Randale Richmond embodies our Kent State commitment to graduating student-athletes and to winning championships, in that order,” Diacon said. “His enthusiasm for Kent State and for student-athlete success is infectious, and we welcome Randale and his family back into our Kent State community.”

Richmond shared his reaction to being selected as Kent State’s new director of athletics.

“My family and I are beyond excited to return to Kent State and lead an outstanding athletics department,” Richmond said. “The university’s mission is to transform the lives of our students through access and education, a goal which is core to my beliefs. As a department and as a university, we will deliver on this mission.”

Watch the Virtual Press Conference

About Randale L. Richmond

Since 2015, Richmond has held the position of senior associate athletic director at Old Dominion, where he is responsible for the oversight and supervision of student-athlete welfare initiatives, student-athlete academic services and NCAA compliance services and programming. He also serves as the sport administrator for men’s basketball, baseball, field hockey, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s soccer and wrestling. At Old Dominion, he is co-chair of the President’s Task Force on Inclusive Excellence and a member of the athletic director’s executive team.

Previously, Richmond served in various roles with Kent State’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics from 2004 until 2015. He started as a graduate assistant for compliance and eligibility, then served as assistant director for compliance and eligibility from 2006 to 2010, assistant athletic director for compliance and eligibility from 2010 to 2012 and associate athletic director for student-athlete services from 2012 to 2015. In his last position at Kent State, he was a member of the President’s Administrative Council and the athletic director’s executive committee. 

Richmond is a current member of the National Association of Athletics Compliance (NAAC) Thought Leaders Group, co-chair of the NAAC Convention Committee and an active participant in the NAAC Athletics Compliance Elite (A.C.E.) Mentoring Program. He also is involved in Old Dominion’s First-Generation Faculty Mentoring Program and the Brother 2 Brother Faculty Steering Committee. Richmond is a graduate of the NCAA Leadership Institute, where he was selected as the graduation speaker for the 2015 graduating class.

Richmond earned his Bachelor of Arts in history with a minor in sociology from Baldwin-Wallace College (now Baldwin Wallace University) in 2004 and his Master of Education in higher education and student personnel from Kent State in 2006.

In February, Kent State launched a national search for the university’s new director of athletics. A 12-member search committee led by Hylton recruited and screened highly qualified candidates for the director of athletics position. Assisting in the search process was CarrSports Consulting LLC, a firm that has extensive experience in conducting national searches for athletic directors and has many Mid-American Conference (MAC) and NCAA Division I institutions as clients.

Richmond succeeds Joel Nielsen, who announced in January that he plans to seek new challenges when his contract with Kent State ends on June 30. 

For more information about Kent State Athletics, visit .

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Photo Caption:
Randale L. Richmond has been selected as ������’s new director of athletics.

Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595

Kent State Director of Athletics
1923-24      Dr. Arville O. DeWeese
1925-33      Merle E. Wagoner
1933-35      Joseph Begala
1935-43      G. Donald Starn
1943-45      Vacant (World War II)
1946-56      Trevor J. Rees
1957-70      Dr. Carl E. Erickson
1970-76      Milo R. (Mike) Lude
1976-80      Donald E. Dufek
1980-93      Paul V. Amodio
1994-2010  Laing E. Kennedy
2010-21      Joel Nielsen
2021-          Randale Richmond