Moon Township, Pa. – The College Football Playoff (CFP) has appointed
Robert Morris University President
Chris Howard to a three-year term on the CFP Selection Committee, which is responsible for selecting and seeding the top four teams in the annual playoff.
Howard joins the selection committee at the same time as other new members as former Virginia Tech head men's football coach Frank Beamer, the winningest active FBS coach at the time of his retirement in 2015, and Eugene "Gene" Smith, the director of athletics at The Ohio State University and a member of the 1973 Notre Dame national championship team. The three new members replace outgoing members Barry Alverez, Condoleeza Rice, and Lloyd Carr.
"This is not just a great honor for me but a great compliment to Robert Morris University, whose national stature continues to grow," said Howard. "I am humbled to be in such august company."
Howard was a running back for the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 1991. A First Team Academic All-American, Howard was the first recipient of the Campbell Trophy, the highest academic award in the country awarded to a senior college football player, and he ended his career with an upset victory over Ohio State in the Liberty Bowl.
A Rhodes scholar, he earned his doctorate in politics at the University of Oxford and an M.B.A. with distinction from the Harvard Business School. In 2003, he was inducted into the Academic All-American Hall of Fame, and he currently is a member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Howard earned a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan.
The CFP Selection Committee is responsible for selecting the top four teams in the playoff and assigning them to semifinal games as well as placing the next group of teams in the remaining New Year's bowls. The selection committee meets in-person beginning late in the football season and produces a ranking of the top 25 teams each week, leading up to its final selections.
ABOUT ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY
Through undergraduate and 35 graduate degree programs across five academic schools, Robert Morris University (RMU) in Pittsburgh, Pa., works to change its students' lives so that they can go out and change the lives of others for the better. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate, nontraditional and online students from 45 states and 41 nations are enrolled at RMU, a nationally ranked university which sits on 230 scenic acres just 20 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. Emphasizing experiential learning, Robert Morris focuses on professional development, service learning, global awareness, undergraduate research, campus leadership, and cultural experiences, all of which are documented on our innovative Student Engagement Transcript. More than 100 clubs and organizations help students to develop leadership skills, network professionally, and meet friends. RMU also has 16 NCAA Division I athletic programs, including football, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's ice hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse.
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