Arizona senior associate athletic director Kathleen “Rocky” LaRose has been selected as the interim athletic director after Jim Livengood was introduced today as the new athletic director at UNLV.

“There is no one more highly regarded at this university,” university president Robert Shelton said of LaRose in a press release, “and the department will be in good hands under Rocky’s leadership while we search for a permanent replacement for Jim.”

Livengood, 64, had been Arizona’s athletic director for nearly 16 years, but his contract was not going to be renewed after its expired June 30, 2010.

LaRose is in her 31st year at Arizona, joining the staff as the softball coach in 1979. She has been the senior associate athletic director for the past 16 years.

Livengood in a UA release said: “My experience in 16 years at the University of Arizona has been nothing short of phenomenal, both professionally and personally. To complete a period like this, with so many high points and other dramatically difficult moments, is truly satisfying.

“I’m proud to have been a Wildcat. The hard part will be the separation between me and the hundreds of people with whom I have worked so closely at the University of Arizona.”