Bharath Parthasarathy was announced as the Georgia State University interim Athletic Director, the University announced Thursday.
Parthasarathy is currently the deputy general counsel at Georgia State University and has experience within the athletics department woking particularly on policies and legal issues. Parthasarathy is responsible for nearly every contract that goes through the department.
“Everyone realizes that Cheryl [Levick] has helped really build this department over the last five years, and everyone is sort of looking forward to this next phase with Turner field and all the teams to the Sun Belt,” Parthasarthy said via phone. “I’m honored by the opportunity to sort of breach that gap.”
While he wants the department to run smoothly, Parthasarthy said as interim he will make sure the department is in the best position in the next two months in terms of marketing, making sure the coaches and student-athletes have the resources they need, and in preparation for fall sports.
Parthasarathy is stepping in for former Athletic Director Cheryl Levick who announced last month she would be transitioning roles to become a special assistant to Georgia State President Dr. Mark Becker because of numerous reasons including non-threatning health issues.
Parthasarathy confirmed that he has no interest in becoming the University’s next athletic director, and he believes his role as the department’s lawyer is the best role for him.
“I don’t think anyone would disagree that we will get very high-calibar talent who has deep knowledge about Athletics,” he said.
Parthasarathy has already begun his first task of meeting with senior staff and coaches, including football head coach Trent Miles and basketball coach Ron Hunter. He will continue to meet with other members of the department to see where they are, and how he can help them approaching the fall.
“I’ve built relationships across the University. We’ll hopefully leverage those for the benefit of athletics,” Parthasarathy said he can bring to the table.
Parthasarathy said it is too premature to discuss the University’s proposal for Turner Field until he can settle into the role. With an ambiguous timeframe as to when the Univeristy would need to be ready with its proposal, Parthasarathy said he would likely have to refer any responsibility for the proposal to the president’s office.
He does not know of any role he will play in the selection process of the next Athletic Director and that the president’s office, through Parker Executive Search, is controlling that process.
Parthasarathy has served on numerous university committees, such as the Institutional Review Board, Centennial Planning Committee and the Rhodes/Marshall/Mitchell Scholarship Selection Committee.
Beginning his legal career as an associate at Alston & Bird LLP, Parthasarathy arrived at Georgia State in September of 2007 as an assistant legal advisor, according to his LinkedIn page. In 2011, Parthasarathy became an Associate General Council. Last March, he become the deputy general council in the Office of Legal Affairs.
Becker and Georgia State signed a $70,000 contract with Parker Executive Search to garner a pool of candidates for the Athletic Director position. Becker plans to have the position filled by the end of the summer.
