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FeedPeople of Influence
Who has clout? There’s a new generation of movers and shakers emerging who are shaping policies and making things happen. Here are 14 to watch.
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Bernard Muir
Sports
Bernard Muir is focused today on the same thing he was as an undersized high school freshman hoopster: growth.
As only the fourth athletic director since 1940 at the University of Delaware, Muir is once again standing at the growth chart. He takes control this fall of an athletic program that is experiencing perhaps its highest national profile ever. He thinks it can achieve even greater heights.
“I always had an eye on what was transpiring here,” says Muir, who comes from Georgetown University, which has a highly touted athletic program itself. “If you look at the 23 sports here, I think there’s a heck of a platform to grow some of those programs, and even greater success for the more established ones.”
Between the emergence of Joe Flacco as a bona fide NFL star and basketball phenom Elena Delle Donne suiting up for the Blue Hens this winter, more eyes than ever are fixed on Newark. All Muir has to do is keep ’em glued to Newark.
Muir says his goals fall in line with school president Patrick Harker’s ambitious Path to Prominence, a stratagem that aims for international reknown. That goes for athletics, too. And Muir would love to see continued football meetings between the Blue Hens and the Hornets of Delaware State. “It’s great for the state,“ he says. Regular meetings are “something I hope we can work out.”
Prior to overseeing Georgetown’s Hoyas for two years, Muir worked as a deputy director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, another sports giant.
So far, Newarkians and Blue Hen fans across the state have welcomed Muir warmly. “People have said, ‘I know you come from Notre Dame and those famous Saturdays in South Bend, but we take our game day Saturdays pretty seriously here, too.’ It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about what those Saturdays will be like.”
Page 2: Peter Schwartzkopf | Politics
Reader Comments:
I have the opportunity to work with Mr. Saridakis at Gannett and your article nailed it. He is the single most important person in our company. In his short tenure here, he is already changing the culture and moving us forward. Delaware should be proud to have him as a citizen of our state!
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I know both Saridakis and Schwartzkopf and these are two fine individuals and have a great deal of respect for them as well as all the 15 people you chose. Congratulations!