NCAA president Myles Brand died Wednesday after a nine-month bout with pancreatic cancer, according to association officials.
He was 67.
"I'm heartbroken," said longtime friend and University of Georgia president Michael Adams. "It's a great loss to me personally, and an even bigger loss to the organization."
Adams knew Brand for more than 20 years, and worked closely with him most recently as the chair of the NCAA's executive committee.
"He had been scheduled to have a regular call with me this morning," Adams said. "But his condition worsened, so the call was canceled."
Brand died Wednesday afternoon shortly after 3 p.m., Adams said.
The six-year NCAA head lived in Indianapolis and is survived by his wife Peg and his adult son, Joshua.
"He's going to leave a legacy of leadership," NCAA spokesman Chuck Wynne said Wednesday evening of Brand.
Brand was named association president in 2002, and took the helm January 2003.
The Indiana University president turned NCAA chief pushed for tighter academic standards in college sports and took on men's basketball coach Bobby Knight.
"Right from the start, he realized that athletics and academics have to come together in a way that was complementary to the (member) universities missions," Wynne said.
During his tenure, Brand created a task force to explore moderating how much schools spend on athletics, and he created an office within the NCAA to promote diversity in hiring.
"He consistently used his bully pulpit to talk about the need for schools to hire more minority athletic directors ... and especially head coaches," Wynne said. "He thought that talent came in all shapes and sizes."
Brand announced he had cancer in January at the NCAA convention and continued to run the organization's day-to-day operations.
He became the first university president to run college sports' largest governing body, and worked to change the perception that wins supersede academics in college athletics. Brand is the first NCAA president to die in office.
News of his death was felt across the NCAA Wednesday.
"He had extraordinary relationships with so many people across intercollegiate athletics," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said. "His outstanding and effective leadership will be fondly remembered."
"We will be in his debt a long time," said Georgia Tech athletics director Dan Radakovich.
The executive committee will immediately appoint an acting president, and eventually begin a national search for Brand's successor, Adams said.
"But I don't want to think about that right now," he said.
From the first weeks of his presidency, Brand was dedicated to enhancing the academic environment and eliminating the phrase "dumb jock" from the American perception, NCAA officials said.
“The main reason we're all here is the student-athlete, and Myles kind of brought that back into the fold of the NCAA,” Radakovich said.
Radakovich also pointed out that Brand's reorganization of the NCAA made it easier for member schools to navigate the organization.
"I think Myles will be remembered for his emphasis on the student athlete," Adams said. "There are literally thousands of kids who never knew him wil will be better off because of what he's done," Adams said.
Details about funeral arrangements are pending, NCAA officials said.
- Staff writer Larry Hartstein and the Associated Press contributed.
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