Michigan State University Athletic Director Bill Beekman Resigns From Position

The Michigan State University athletic department is seeing some changes in its staff today.

Bill Beekman, MSU Athletic Director, announced that he would resign from his position with the school, but would still be in the position until his replacement is found. The search for that person is currently underway at this time.

Beekman's date of departure has yet to be announced, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Beekman will instead be taking a position under the Michigan State University's president, Samuel Stanley, as the vice president of strategic initiatives.

Get our free mobile app

Word on Beekman's replacement is still being retained, and the details on the search will be announced eventually.

“I have been honored to serve as athletic director at Michigan State, and I thank the Board of Trustees and our administration for this opportunity,” Beekman told the public in a release. “While we’ve experienced the most challenging 18 months in the history of college athletics, we’ve pushed forward on many fronts, laying the groundwork for the future. Great things are ahead for Michigan State athletics. I’m also excited for this new role in the administrative team as the vice president for strategic initiatives, working with President Stanley to drive our great university forward.”

“There are changes, improvements, that we can always make. Every organization — mine, yours and everybody else’s — can make improvements,” Beekman said in a statment back in July of 2018. “And we need to do that, and we need to make sure that we’re prepared and have policies and procedures in place so that we can prevent things like this from happening ever again. ... And you have to think about it every day as you go through your day. That’s the culture piece.”

Beekman is an Okemos native who graduated from MSU back in 1989. He also served on the MSU Health Team.

Beekman's tenure is one of the shortest tenures since Merrily Dean Baker, who served from 1992 to 1999.