Sports Headlines

Big 12 hires Stanford AD Bowlsby as commissioner

Posted: 8:55 PM May 3, 2012

The Big 12 Conference has made it official, announcing the hiring of Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby as its new commissioner.

The league announced the hire on Thursday, a few hours after Bowlsby broke the news to his staff and coaches at Stanford. He will take over from interim Commissioner Chuck Neinas on June 15.

The 60-year-old Bowlsby spent the past six years at Stanford, helping it rebuild its football program into a national power. He will now take over a BCS conference that seems to have found some stability after losing four schools over the past two years. The league will head into this fall with 10 members, including new additions TCU and West Virginia.