(LEBANON, Ill., March 20)—McKendree University officials announced on Tuesday that Dr. Todd Reynolds, director of athletics at the institution, has resigned from his position.
 
Dr. James Dennis, President of McKendree University, has named Melissa Ringhausen as the interim director of athletics for the University. Ringhausen recently completed her 15^th season as the women's basketball coach for the Bearcats, and has also served as the Senior Women's Administrator for McKendree since 2010.
 
Dr. Reynolds, who was named the director of athletics to oversee McKendree's 21 intercollegiate programs in May 2010, had been employed at the institution for 25 years. Dr. Reynolds joined the staff in 1987 as Vice President for Student Affairs, a role he served in until taking the reins of the Bearcats' athletic department.
 
As the director of athletics, Dr. Reynolds was instrumental in leading McKendree through the early portion of its transition period towards NCAA Division II membership. McKendree was approved to begin the NCAA membership process in the summer of 2010, and is currently in Year Two Candidacy.
 
“Dr. Reynolds has done an outstanding job through our transition to the NCAA and we are indebted to him for his tireless efforts on behalf of McKendree,” said Dr. Dennis. “Todd has made so many positive contributions to McKendree that it would be impossible to name them all. At the same time, we are confident in Melissa Ringhausen and her abilities, and have asked her to serve as the interim director of athletics at this challenging period in our athletic department.”
 
Since coming to McKendree in 1997, Ringhausen has transformed the Bearcat women's basketball into a model of success both on and off the court. Ringhausen led McKendree to six American Midwest Conference championships during the Bearcats' days as members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). McKendree also reached the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship nine times under her watch.
 
For her efforts, Ringhausen was selected as the AMC Coach of the Year in 2008 and again in 2010. With 297 victories, she is the all-time wins leader in McKendree women's basketball history.
 
In the classroom, her Bearcats were ranked as one of the NAIA's top academic teams by the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association on six different occasions, including a No. 2 ranking in 2002. The Bearcats' 2010-11 squad had a team grade-point average of 3.31, and Ringhausen's program boasts a 100 percent graduation rate among those who completed their four years in the program.
 
Ringhausen is a 1994 graduate of Ottawa University, where she majored in biology. Ringhausen went on to earn her master's degree in exercise physiology and biomechanics from the University of Kansas in 1996. She is married to Lance Ringhausen, head athletic trainer at McKendree. The couple resides in Shiloh with their daughter Linden.
 
“Dr. Reynolds has provided great leadership in our first two years of (NCAA) transition,” said Ringhausen. “He has prepared us well for our move towards Division II membership. We will move forward with the detail and enthusiasm that Dr. Reynolds instilled in us as McKendree works to complete this transition.”
 
Dr. Dennis said that McKendree will conduct a national search for a new director of athletics. That search will begin immediately.