TicketsDec. 2, 2005
CINCINNATI, Ohio-- New University of Cincinnati Director of Athletics Mike Thomas, who started his tenure at UC today, has made his first administrative hire by selecting Bob Arkeilpane as Deputy Athletic Director. Arkeilpane, who has more than 20 years of experience at the Division I level as a student-athlete, coach, and administrator, begins his duties in the athletic department later this month.
Arkeilpane moves over to athletics after serving the UC Foundation since 2003 as an associate vice-president and campaign planner. Immediately before coming to UC, Arkeilpane served as the Director of Athletics at the University at Buffalo, where he was instrumental in getting UB to join the Mid-American Conference.
"I am excited to have a person of Bob's caliber join our administrative staff," said Thomas. "Bob has a wealth of experience and vision in Division I-A athletics and I believe he will provide strong leadership and expertise to his role as the Deputy AD."
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Arkeilpane just completed his second tour of duty which totalled almost eight years at the UC Foundation. He has also served as an Associate Athletic Director at Cal State-Fullerton and Miami University, before heading east to Buffalo.
Arkeilpane, who was a three-year starting defensive back from 1977-81 at Syracuse University, is from an athletic family. His older brother Jim played football at Iowa and his younger brother Dave played on a national championship hockey team at Michigan State.
After leaving Syracuse, Arkeilpane went on to earn his master's degree in Sports Administration at Ohio University, where he became a graduate assistant football coach. Ironically, the man he replaced as the GA coach at OU was current Bearcat head football coach Mark Dantonio.
"I am excited about the opportunity to join Mike Thomas' staff ," Arkeilpane said. "There are a lot of great things to build on and I feel confident the program will move forward under Mike's leadership."
Arkeilpane and his wife, Mary, have three children; Liz (21), a student at Ohio University, Kyle (19), a student at UC, and Alex (15).