Interim Illinois Chancellor Barbara Wilson announced Wednesday that the University had selected an executive search firm to assist her previously chosen search committee with hiring a new athletic director.

The search firm in question is Korn Ferry, the world’s largest executive search firm, which has aided at administrative and head coaching selections at schools like Michigan, Virginia and Oregon. 

“My hope all along was to identify a firm that had the experience and network to add value to our efforts,” Wilson said in a press release Wednesday.

Paul Kowalczyk has served as the University’s interim athletic director since the Nov. 9 firing and buyout of Mike Thomas.

The search committee is chaired by professor Matt Wheeler and is expected to make a decision any time after Jan. 4, at which point the committee will present its selection to the University Board of Trustees, who have a meeting on Jan. 15 in Chicago.

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