Tina Kunzer-Murphy will be the interim athletic director at UNLV, it was announced Monday, May 20, 2013. Last year Kunzer-Murphy stepped down after a 12-year run as executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl.
Monday, May 20, 2013 | 12:15 p.m.
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Tina Kunzer-Murphy will be the UNLV interim athletic director effective July 1, 2013, university President Neal Smatresk announced Monday.
Kunzer-Murphy, who has been the director of alumni sponsorship and development for UNLV Alumni Relations since January, previously spent 12 years as executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl. She resigned from that position in August 2012. Kunzer-Murphy was one of many possible candidates previously discussed for athletic director before withdrawing her name before Jim Livengood was eventually hired in 2009.
“Tina Kunzer-Murphy has agreed to step into the role of interim athletic director on the heels of Jim Livengood’s retirement,” Smatresk said in a statement. “Tina brings a wealth of experience to UNLV and I am truly grateful that she will be serving in this critical role.”
A UNLV graduate, Kunzer-Murphy worked within the UNLV athletic department in various roles from 1977 to 1992, going from the head women’s tennis coach to senior assistant athletic director. After that, she became the senior associate athletic director for a year at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
From 2000 to 2005, Kunzer-Murphy was the general manager for the ESPN Regional Institution Project for the UNLV athletic department.
In 2008, the Sun named Kunzer-Murphy one of the Top 10 Most Influential Sports Professionals in Nevada. A 2007 inductee to the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, Kunzer-Murphy also has managed the Western Athletic Conference football championship and basketball tournaments for Las Vegas Events and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Smatresk said last week that he didn’t plan to consider the interim hire for the full-time position, which likely won’t be hired until at least September.
Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.
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