The Mid-American Conference named the current Ohio Valley Conference commissioner as its new commissioner today.
Jon A. Steinbrecher, who served six years as the OVC commissioner, will replace current MAC commissioner Rick Chryst. In January, Chryst announced he will retire from the conference he led for 10 years once his contract ends June 30.
Steinbrecher, who will be the eighth commissioner in the MAC's 62-year history, also served nine years as the commissioner of the Mid-Continent Conference, which is now known as the Summitt League.
Steinbrecher negotiated a five-year contract extension with ESPN while at the OVC. He also helped with projects such as establishing OVCSports.TV to stream video of conference events.
He served on the NCAA Division I Basketball Issues Committee. He became the first non-Football Bowl Subdivision commissioner elected as president of the Collegiate Commissioner's Association.
Steinbrecher was named to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group in 2007. He began a three-year term on the NCAA Division I Legislative Council in September and is the vice chair.
He also helped the OVC and Nashville secure the rights to the 2014 NCAA Division I Women's Final Four.
"Jon has a superior background at the highest levels of intercollegiate athletics," said Western Michigan University President John M. Dunn, chair of the search committee in a press release. "He is a proven talent, an innovative thinker, with excellent administrative and academic credentials. Clearly, Dr. Steinbrecher shares the same values as the member institutions and its student-athletes, and he will continue our tradition as one of the nation's premier conferences."
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