In charge for now
Janice Ruggiero has been named UNM’s acting athletic director
Janice Ruggiero has been a Lobo for a while.
She played basketball for the University of New Mexico in the late 1980s.
She worked her way through the UNM athletic department’s business office and eventually took on the title she now holds as deputy athletic director in charge of internal operations and senior woman administrator.
Now she will serve as UNM’s acting athletic director as the school prepares to embark on a national search to replace the retiring Paul Krebs.
UNM’s Interim President Chaouki Abdallah announced the decision on Monday.
Ruggiero is the first female to hold the position of athletic director, on an interim or permanent basis, for the Lobos.
“It’s been a difficult year, not only for our athletic department, but a lot of other public institutions facing fiscal challenges,” Ruggiero said. “But UNM is a very special place and will continue to be so moving forward. ... There are a lot of really talented people who work here.”
Ruggiero has not been given a specific timetable as to how long the search to replace Krebs will take.
But she said she’s prepared to be acting AD as long as needed, “even if that is three to six months before a decision is made.”
Chaouki said: “We have not yet begun the search process, but will consider all qualified candidates.”
Ruggiero said she has not decided if she will apply for the job.
“We haven’t had those conversations yet,” she said. “For now, I’m concentrating on running the department in a fiscally responsible way and continuing to ensure the studentathletes are getting everything they need to be successful in their time here.”
Ruggiero’s base salary is $165,000. UNM has not said if she will get more pay while serving as acting athletic director.
“Janice Ruggiero’s appointment as acting Director of Intercollegiate Athletics will allow the Athletics Department to operate smoothly under the guidance of a veteran administrator,” UNM Regent Marron Lee said. “As we formulate the search process, we are optimistic that we will find a leader that will be able to build on academic and competitive successes of the past decade, while managing ongoing and future fiscal responsibilities.”
Ruggiero has full athletic director authority as Krebs would have had, including hiring.
UNM is looking for a head softball coach, although associate AD Ed Manzanares has been conducting that search and likely will make that call.
Ruggiero (then Janice Branch) played basketball at Eldorado High School for Don Flanagan (who later coached the Lobos).
She is the daughter of Dennis Branch, who, while playing basketball for El Rito High School in the 1950s, became one of New Mexico’s leading scorers.
However, the Lobos did not recruit her initially. Linda Estes, then a UNM assistant athletic director, got to talking to her father one day. She’s being recruited by a lot of schools, Branch told Estes, but not UNM. It took about 10 minutes for then-Lobo coach Doug Hoselton to get the message and open a conversation with the Branches.
Ruggiero played point guard for three seasons for the Lobos, but the program was cut in 1987. She finished her collegiate career at Hawaii.
After her playing days were over she went to work for a medical company, but decided that was not for her. She enrolled in grad school at UNM.
Again Estes was on the scene. She told Ruggiero there was an opening in the athletic department business office. Ruggiero jumped at the opportunity.
Ruggiero worked her way through the ranks, and by 2000, she essentially took over for the retiring Estes as an assistant athletic director.
“I have every confidence in Janice’s ability to lead our programs,” Abdallah said in a statement. “It is an honor to be able to appoint the first woman to oversee all of UNM athletics.”