University of Iowa President Sally Mason has appointed a new faculty athletics representative to serve as one of two representatives who advise the president, monitor compliance with student athlete eligibility and other National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, and serve as the UI’s institutional voice at national meetings and conferences.

David Drake, professor of microbiology in the Dows Institute for Dental Research and Department of Endodontics at the College of Dentistry, will serve in the position held since 2011 by Gene Parkin, professor in the College of Engineering, who is retiring from the university. Ellie Herman, clinical professor in the College of Education, will continue to serve as a representative, a post she has held since 2011.

Mason praised Parkin’s work over the past four years and looked forward to Drake’s service.

“I am so grateful to Gene Parkin for his incredible service to this university and his advocacy on behalf of our student athletes, academic programs, and our university,” Mason says. “Our philosophy of Win, Graduate, and Do It Right encapsulates what we expect from our student athletes in the classroom as well as on the field. This is why I am so pleased to have David Drake step into this important role with Ellie Herman.”

Drake has been at the University of Iowa for almost 28 years. His research concerning specific genotypes of the bacterium Streptococcus mutans in American Indian children and their role in the development of severe early childhood caries has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

He has been extensively involved in service throughout the university and the nation. He has been a member of a number of NIH study sections over the years, and he serves on numerous editorial boards. Drake has served and chaired numerous committees in the American Association for Dental Research. At the University of Iowa, he has been on committees ranging from the Graduate Council to serving in the Faculty Senate and Faculty Council.  He served as Faculty Senate president from 2009 to 2010.

From July 2011 to June 2013, he served President Mason as senior associate to the president. He recently served as Presiding Officer of the Judicial Commission from 2013-2015. He received both the Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence and the Michael J Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service in 2011.

NCAA member institutions are required by the organization’s bylaws to appoint at least one faculty athletics representative, whose duties are determined by the institution. Some of the duties recommended by the national Faculty Athletics Representative Association (FARA) are:

• Principal adviser to the university president on all matters related to intercollegiate athletics.
• Institutional representative to the NCAA and conference.
• Interprets NCAA and conference legislation to university.
• Monitors the coordination of compliance efforts and rules education among campus entities outside athletics department.
• Monitors academic preparation and performance of each student athlete.
• Facilitates and supports the development of a student-athlete advisory committee.
• Assists the president and athletics director in determining institutional positions on proposed NCAA and conference legislation.
• Facilitates communication among various campus entities, in particular between athletics department and faculty governance structure.

More information about FARA is available at www.farawebsite.org.