Morgan Burke’s lengthy tenure as the athletics director at Purdue is coming to a close.
Burke announced Thursday that he will retire from his post, effective July 2017.
“Few people are afforded the opportunity to serve their alma mater in a capacity such as I have for more than two decades," Burke said in the announcement, "and I look forward to continue doing so as we help our student-athletes in their quest to win championships — in the classroom, in competition and in life.”
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Burke, who took over as Purdue's AD in 1993, is the fourth-longest tenured athletics director in the FBS, spending 22 years running the athletics department in West Lafayette. The only ADs who have served longer at the same institution are Utah’s Chris Hill, Florida’s Jeremy Foley and Wake Forest’s Ron Wellman, with Foley and Wellman starting not even a full year before Burke.
“For longer than any athletic director in Purdue history, Morgan has contributed to Purdue’s reputation as a highly competitive program marked by integrity and fiscal soundness,” university president Mitch Daniels said in the announcement. “Over the last 23 years he has worked to create an environment that fosters both academic and athletic success among our student-athletes. For the first of many times to come, we thank him for his years of service to the university and look forward to working with him over the next year and a half to facilitate a successful transition.”
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Burke hired longtime football coach Joe Tiller, who took the Boilermaker football program to new heights. Tiller led the Boilers to bowl appearances in 10 of his 12 seasons, including a Rose Bowl appearance to cap the 2000 campaign in which Purdue won the Big Ten championship.
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Burke's tenure also overlapped with that of legendary basketball coach Gene Keady, who in 25 years won six Big Ten championships and took the Boilers to 17 NCAA tournaments, reaching five Sweet Sixteens and a pair of Elite Eights. Burke hired current head basketball coach Matt Painter. Currently in his 11th season as head coach, Painter has won a pair of Big Ten championships and led the Boilers to two Sweet Sixteens.
Two non-revenue sports have also brought home national championships under Burke's watch: the women's basketball team in 1999 and the women's golf team in 2010.
Purdue announced that chairman of the board of trustees and former football player Michael Berghoff will lead the university's search for a new athletics director.
“Because of the complexity of the job and Morgan’s historic record in Purdue athletics, finding a successor will be no small task,” Berghoff said in the announcement.