NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma has appointed a 12-member committee representing key areas across the university community to conduct a nationwide search for its next Vice President and Director of Athletics.
Joe Castiglione, who has served as OU’s athletics director since 1998, announced on June 8 his future retirement. He will serve in an advisory role to the committee throughout the search. Upon the naming of his successor and his or her arrival to campus, Castiglione will assume the role of Emeritus Athletics Director. He will serve in a fundraising capacity for the University through June 2028.
The search committee, which will work with a search firm, is comprised of the following members:
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
Three University of Oklahoma graduate students have been named winners of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition, which challenges participants to explain their research in three minutes to a non-specialist audience.
Sarah Sharif, a researcher with the University of Oklahoma, has been awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create innovative light detectors that pick up mid-wave and long-wave infrared signals at higher temperatures than previously considered achievable.
A team from OU and WVU recently earned a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how concept cigarillos influence the potential for addiction. The results will be used to inform the FDA’s impending flavor ban on cigar products and could have wider-reaching implications for other tobacco products that come in flavors, such as e-cigarettes and tobacco-free nicotine pouches.