By Beth Rosenberg
The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana University President Myles Brand will take over leadership of the NCAA as its strives to balance athletics and academics.

The NCAA named Brand its new president and chief executive Thursday at a news conference at its headquarters, ending a seven-month search for a new leader.

Brand is the first university president to be named to the top spot at the NCAA.

Choosing a university president sends a message that the NCAA is interested in the academic success of student athletes, said Robert Lawless, chairman of the NCAA Executive Committee and president of the University of Tulsa.

Brand will assume his new duties Jan. 1, the NCAA said. His contract will run through 2007.

"I look forward to a very productive time at the NCAA," Brand said. "A lot of good activity is already in place, but I also look forward to being a change agent."

The NCAA interviewed 11 candidates for the position. Brand was one of three finalists interviewed Thursday by the NCAA Executive Committee. The NCAA did not disclose the identities of the other two finalists but said at least one was a minority.

The decision was unanimous, Lawless said. "He's a proven educational leader."

Brand, 60, has been president at the university in Bloomington since 1994. He said he would resign his position at IU.

"I believe the IU community will be very surprised," he said.

IU Faculty Athletic Committee Chairman Bruce Jaffee said he had dinner with Brand earlier this week and still was caught by surprise. "It was a really well-kept secret. I haven't found anybody that had any clue."

The school's Board of Trustees scheduled a news conference Friday to discuss transition plans.

Brand said he did not seek the NCAA position but was nominated for it and became involved in the search earlier this year. He said he did not know who nominated him.

The NCAA said there were 118 candidates for the position.

Lawless said the search committee did not make a recommendation to the executive committee among the finalists.

Brand will succeed Cedric W. Dempsey, who announced in January that he would retire at the end of his term at the close of this year.

Dempsey has led the NCAA since 1994. During his tenure, the title was changed from executive director to president to reflect the NCAA's direction.

The search for a replacement began in April, when the NCAA Board of Directors adopted reforms aimed at curtailing the trend of student athletes forgoing college or leaving school early to play professional sports.

Brand gained national attention in September 2000 when he fired Bob Knight as Indiana's coach after 29 seasons and three national championships.

A few months later he called for wide reforms of college athletics during a speech before the National Press Club.

Brand said then it was time to scale back the basketball and football "arms race" that has become a "threat to the academic integrity" of universities.

Brand called in his speech for "academics first" solutions, led by college presidents, to the problems of overcommercialization, poor graduation rates and questionable academic standards used for athletes.

Brand also suggested limiting the dates and times games can be played, the number of television time-outs and the amount of advertising permitted in a college arena, including on uniforms.

Brand went to Indiana from the University of Oregon, where he was president from 1989 to 1994. At Indiana, Brand has served as chief executive of a Big Ten Conference school with eight campuses, nearly 100,000 students, 17,00 employees and a budget of $3.4 billion.

He was chairman of the board of directors of the Association of American Universities and served on the board of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

AGE: 60

EDUCATION: Bachelor of science, philosophy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y, 1964; doctorate of philosophy, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., 1967.

OCCUPATION: President, Indiana University, since 1994.

PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS: President, University of Oregon, 1989-94; provost and vice president for academic affairs, The Ohio State University, 1986-89; coordinating dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Arizona, 1985-86; dean of faculty of social and behavioral sciences, University of Arizona, 1983-86; director, cognitive science program, University of Arizona, 1982-85; head, Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, 1981-83; chairman, Department of Philosophy, University of Illinois, Chicago, 1972-80; assistant chairman, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, 1971-72.

ORGANIZATIONS: Chairman, Board of Directors, Association of American Universities, 1999-2000; member, Board of Directors, American Council on Education, 1992-97, and member of executive committee, 1994-97; member, Board of Directors, National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, 1995-98; currently a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum and a member of the executive committee of the Indiana Conference on Higher Education.

FAMILY: Wife, Margaret (Peg) Brand. One son.