MIAMI – Larry Scott will become the Pacific-10 Conference commissioner on July 1 after six years as chairman and chief executive officer of the WTA Tour.
Scott will remain with the women’s professional tennis circuit into June, the tour said Tuesday. He will work with the tour board to select his successor.
“With women’s professional tennis more popular than ever, the tour in the strongest business position in its history and a fantastic senior management team in place, now is the right time for me to embrace a new challenge,” Scott said in a statement.
Scott became the CEO of the WTA in 2003, after having been ATP chief operating officer and president of ATP Properties. Under his watch, the WTA pushed for – and got – equal prize money for women at Wimbledon and the French Open.
“He brings a lot of great skills and experience to the job,” said Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby, who led the Pac-10′s search and screening committee.
Scott will take over for Tom Hansen, who announced his retirement last June after 26 years, making him the longest-tenured Division I conference commissioner in the country.
Bowlsby said his committee began work last August and forwarded the names of four candidates to the conference presidents.