UND hires Bill Chaves of Eastern Washington as school's next athletic director

A press conference is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday to introduce Chaves.

Chaves signed a four-year contract worth $200,000 per year, according to UND President Mark Kennedy.

Chaves interviewed for the job on Wednesday and Thursday this week. He was offered the job Friday and accepted Saturday morning.

The other finalists were Western Michigan senior associate athletic director Monty Porter, UND Champions Club executive director Mike Mannausau and Texas-San Antonio deputy athletic director Kellie Elliott.

“I am excited about the impact Bill Chaves’ leadership will have on an already excellent athletics program here at UND," Kennedy said. "I want to thank the search committee, chaired by Provost Tom DiLorenzo, for its excellent work. Thanks in part to a new law that protected the anonymity of the applicants, we had an excellent pool to choose from. We were pleased with the selection of the four candidates, which made it a challenging decision. We received excellent input from the forums, from those who attended interview sessions, and from the search committee members. All of the candidates fared well, but in the end Bill was a notch ahead of the other candidates."

Chaves will replace Brian Faison, who announced in October that he would soon retire as athletic director.

Under Chaves, the EWU football program has won five Big Sky titles and captured the FCS national championship in 2010. Chaves also played a role in EWU installing the first-ever red turf football field.

He led several fundraising initiatives at EWU, as well, including a $1.1 million project for a new videoboard/scoreboards at Roos Field and Reese Court and a $1.5 million locker room project.

Chaves also has a hockey background, having spent time at both Quinnipiac and Northeastern.

"The opportunity to have hockey within a portfolio of sports offerings excites me," Chaves said after participating in a public forum Wednesday. "It's something I've been a part of at different institutions and it really intrigues me."

Eastern's fundraising arm, Eagle Athletic Fund, is at an all-time high in both members and dollars.

Chaves, who grew up in Connecticut, has been married to his wife Liz for 23 years. They have a daughter Erin (17) and two sons, Derek (14) and Kevin (12).