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Perk Weisenburger Named Athletics Director

Perk WeisenburgerBIG RAPIDS – A Michigan native has been tabbed Ferris State University’s next Athletics Director. Perk Weisenburger was appointed to lead Bulldog Athletics in an announcement made today (Aug. 25) by Vice President for Administration & Finance Jerry Scoby.

Since 2005, Weisenburger served on the senior staff as associate Athletics director for External Operations at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He’s a 1979 graduate of Central Michigan University and the former director of Athletics at NCAA Division I Illinois State University.

His appointment comes following a nationwide search and screening process that yielded more than 75 applicants and involved a 10-member search committee. He’ll replace former Athletics Director Tom Kirinovic, who retired in June after more than 27 years as a member of the Bulldog Athletics department. Weisenburger is expected to start his duties on Friday, Sept. 10.

“Perk brings an incredible amount of experience in multiple athletic settings that will be extremely helpful as he prepares to lead Ferris State Athletics,” Scoby said. “He was a student-athlete and understands how important this experience is to both the student-athletes and the university.

“Overall, I was impressed with the breadth and depth of our pool of candidates for this position, and he emerged at the top of that list in the process,” he added.

As the new Athletics director, Weisenburger will be responsible for the operations of Ferris State’s Athletics department, which currently sponsors 15 intercollegiate varsity sports (eight for women and seven for men). Fourteen of the sports participate at the NCAA Division II level in the highly-competitive Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) while men's hockey competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).

“We’re very pleased that Perk Weisenburger has accepted our offer to become the Athletics director at Ferris State University,” said President David L. Eisler. “He brings a strong background of experience and is well prepared to help Ferris Athletics continue to grow, help student-athletes get a great education and to prepare our teams for competition.”

In his tenure at UNLV, Weisenburger oversaw the coordination and operation of many external functions, such as Athletics marketing and promotions, licensing, and ticketing. He also served as the department’s liaison to multi-media rights partner International Sports Properties (ISP).

Prior to arriving at UNLV, Weisenburger spent five years (1999-2004) leading the Athletics department at Illinois State and previously worked in Athletics administration at other NCAA Division I institutions such as Wake Forest, Central Michigan, Washington and Houston. He was the associate director of Athletics for External Operations at CMU from 1989-95.

Weisenburger graduated from CMU with a bachelor’s in Business Administration. He also earned a master’s in Sports Administration from Ohio University (1982). He and his wife, Buffy, who are both Michigan natives, are the parents of two sons, Jack (12) and Joe (7).

“It’s an exciting opportunity that presents itself at Ferris State University and our family is thrilled to be returning to Michigan,” Weisenburger said. “I’m looking forward to becoming a part of Bulldog Athletics and helping to continue the solid tradition of academic and athletic success while cultivating an atmosphere of enthusiasm and pride that reflects Ferris State’s past, present and future.”