DePaul president appoints next Faculty Athletics Representative as John McEnroe announces retirement

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​​After serving as DePaul's Faculty Athletics Representative for 20 years and a professor of accounting and MIS in the Driehaus College of Business for nearly 39 years, John McEnroe will retire at the end of the 2020-21 academic year. DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban announced today, March 31, Anna Marie Frank, associate professor of kinesiology in the College of Education, will serve as the next Faculty Athletics Representative. Her appointment is effective July 1.

“The Faculty Athletics Representative ensures our student athletes have the opportunity to succeed both in competition and the classroom. As a result, year after year, almost every DePaul student athlete is named to the BIG EAST All-Academics Team," Dr. Esteban says. “I am very grateful for John's exemplary service as both a teacher and an advocate for our student athletes. I also appreciate Ani's willingness to pick up the baton and serve as DePaul's next Faculty Athletics Representative."

The primary role of the Faculty Athletics Representative, or FAR, is to promote the academic welfare of DePaul's student athletes.  The FAR interacts with coaches, advisors and academic units across the university to ensure that student athletes have the time and resources necessary to achieve the same level of academic success as all students.

“At DePaul, this isn't a difficult achievement due to the typical high academic ability of the student athlete recruited by the university," McEnroe says.  

The FAR's responsibilities include co-chairing the Athletic Academic Eligibility Committee and serving as the DePaul representative for any NCAA committees related to academics. The FAR also keeps faculty informed of student athletes' academic progress, by sending a letter to all DePaul faculty at the beginning of each academic quarter listing the academic, not athletic, accomplishments earned.

“Everyone wants to see our student athletes succeed in the classroom. Our faculty have been wonderful in not only allowing, but assisting, our student athletes to make up missed classes and exams due to their competition, not practice," McEnroe says. “It has been an honor and pleasure to serve as DePaul's FAR."

McEnroe joined DePaul in 1982 and is currently the Deloitte Distinguished Professor in the School of Accountancy & MIS. He also is the director of the Strobel Accounting Honors Program, one of the few accounting honor, selective admission cohort programs in the nation. McEnroe joined the University Athletic Board in 2001. DePaul's 10th president, John P. Minogue, appointed him as the Faculty Athletics Representative two years thereafter. 

 “At DePaul, academic success is the highest priority for our student athletes. We are so proud of their many achievements," says DeWayne Peevy, DePaul Athletics Director. “I would like to congratulate John on his well-deserved retirement and thank him for all that he has done for our student athletes. I look forward to working closely with Ani as the next FAR and know she will demonstrate great care for what will benefit our athletes holistically."

An alumna and former student athlete, Frank was a member of the volleyball and gymnastics teams during her undergraduate years at DePaul. After serving as the director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at St. Francis Hospital for many years, she returned home to DePaul's College of Education in 1990. Frank first served on the University Athletic Board from 2000-2007, and again from 2017 to the present. She currently serves as the board's chair. Frank will serve as an ex-officio member of the board when she assumes her role as FAR in July.

“Competing as a student athlete was a significant part of my DePaul experience, and it's why I love staying involved in Athletics," Frank says. “This is an exciting time in DePaul's athletic history, and I look forward to engaging with the Athletics administration and our faculty."