San Rafael, CA - Dominican University of California President will begin a search for a worthy successor to Terry Tumey as director of athletics.

Tumey, who has been Dominican’s A.D. since April of 2009, has accepted a similar position with the University of California, Davis.

“Terry Tumey orchestrated Dominican's transition to NCAA Division II athletics, and in doing so focused on excellence in the classroom and on the playing field,” President Mary Marcy said. “Our campus and our student-athletes are stronger for his leadership, just as they will be at UC Davis. We are grateful for Terry's many contributions to Dominican; UC Davis has found a strong leader, role model and champion of the student athlete.”

Marcy said she plans to announce an acting athletics director later this month.

Under Tumey’s leadership, Dominican won the Pacific West Conference’s Academic Achievement Award in its first three years in the conference plus the PacWest’s Community Engagement Award.

Last season, Dominican set team records in NCAA Divivision II competition in men’s basketball and lacrosse. Tumey also re-established the women’s and men’s cross country program at Dominican and guided the university through the process of funding and constructing a new athletics complex featuring a multi-purpose synthetic turf field and six new tennis courts. That complex is scheduled to be dedicated in the fall.

“I wish President Marcy and Dominican well and will always appreciate the opportunity Dominican afforded me,” Tumey said. “It’s an exciting challenge for me at UC Davis, but it is difficult to leave Dominican and its dedicated coaches, staff and student-athletes. It is an amazing institution with the ideal balance of academics and athletics. I see nothing but great things from Dominican in the future.”