Division I Committee on Infractions Bios

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions is appointed by the NCAA Division I Management Council and is responsible for administering the NCAA enforcement program.  There are ten members on the committee.  Seven of the committee members are on the staff of member institutions or member conferences of the Association.  Two of the ten members processes appeals on behalf of the committee and do not take active roles in deliberations nor voting on deciding infractions cases.  Three of the members serve as representatives of the general public and are not associated with a collegiate institution, conference or professional sports organization.  Two of the positions on the committee are allocated to men and two are allocated to women.  Committee members serve three-year terms, for a maximum of nine years.

The duties of the committee include:  considering complaints that are filed with the NCAA; charging the failure of a member to maintain academic or athletics standards required for membership; determining facts related to alleged violations; making findings of violations of NCAA rules; imposing appropriate penalties or show-cause requirements on member institutions found to be involved in major violations; and carrying out any other duties directly related to the administration of the enforcement program.

Following is a brief description of each committee member's background and the year each joined the committee.

Josephine (Jo) R. Potuto, Chair, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1999)

Ms. Potuto is the Richard H. Larson Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law and has been the institution's faculty athletics representative since 1997. Among her courses, Ms. Potuto teaches Sports Law, Civil and Criminal Procedure, and First Amendment Law. She is the author of three books: Federal Criminal Jury Instructions, Winning Appeals, and Federal Collateral Attacks. Ms. Potuto is a past chair of the Big XII Conference and has served on the Conference Strategic Planning Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, and Interpretations Committee. In addition to her duties with the Division I Committee on Infractions, Ms. Potuto also serves on the Management Council and the Men's Gymnastics Committee. Ms. Potuto has prosecuted criminal cases and handled criminal appeals and also has consulted in several constitutional cases. She has been the reporter and project director for the Model Sentencing and Corrections Act (National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws), was the reporter for the Nebraska Supreme Court project on Criminal Jury Instructions, and represented the Nebraska Athletics Department as advisor to the Uniform Law Commissioner's Sports Agents Uniform Act. Ms. Potuto is a member of the American Law Institute, a past member of the Federal Court, D. Neb., Federal Practice Committee, and a past member of the Nebraska Crime Commission. Ms. Potuto has earned a B.A. degree in journalism from Douglass College, an M.A. degree in English Literature from Seton Hall University, and a J.D. degree from Rutgers University Law School where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Rutgers Law Review.

Paul T. Dee, Vice-Chair, University of Miami (2001)

Mr. Dee has been the Director of Athletics at the University of Miami (Florida) since 1993. Previously, he was the university's Vice-President and General Counsel for 12 years. Mr. Dee has actively served on a number of committees at both the conference and NCAA levels. He has served as chair of the Big East Conference as a member of its Executive and Television Committees. In addition to his present service on the Division I Committee on Infractions, Mr. Dee served on the NCAA Committee on Certification and the Management Council. Mr. Dee is an active member of the Florida Bar and was a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission of the Third District Court of Appeals from 1989-93 and was its chair in 1993. Mr. Dee received his B.A. degree from the University of Florida and his M.Ed. and J.D. degrees from the University of Miami.

Gene A. Marsh, University of Alabama (1999)

Mr. Marsh, the chair of the committee during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 academic years, is the James M. Kidd Sr. Professor of Law at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa School of Law. He teaches Commercial Transactions, Consumer Protection and Business Organization and he also teaches in the College of Business Administration. In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Marsh has served as Director for the University Honors Program and was the university's Faculty Athletics Representative from 1996 to 2003. He has chaired the university's Compliance Committee, the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics and the NCAA Athletic Certification Steering Committee. He served as a member of the NCAA Business/Finance Cabinet and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Conference. Mr. Marsh received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Ohio State University and his law degree from Washington and Lee University. Before enrolling at Ohio State, he served three years of active duty with the U.S. Army's Presidential Honor Guard, the "Old Guard" at Fort Meyers, Arlington, Virginia.

Jerry R. Parkinson, University of Wyoming (2000)

Mr. Parkinson has been dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law since 1998 and serves as one of the committee's two coordinators of appeals.  Previously, he served on the law faculty of the University of Oklahoma for 11 years, including four years as associate dean.  Dean Parkinson practiced law in Portland, Oregon, and served as law clerk for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit.  Prior to law school, he was a deputy U.S. Marshal and high school teacher and coach.  Dean Parkinson received a B.S. degree from Northern State College, an M.P.A. from the University of South Dakota, and his law degree from the University of Iowa.

Alfred J. ("Jim") Lechner, Jr., Princeton, New Jersey (2002)

Mr. Lechner, a former federal district judge, serves as one of three representatives from the general public. He is currently a partner with the intellectual property law firm of Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik, of Westfield, New Jersey. Prior to assuming his current position with Lerner David, Mr. Lechner was the Vice President, Chief Counsel Litigation for Tyco International (US) Inc. He's also served as a litigation partner with the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he specialized in securities, intellectual property and class action litigation. Mr. Lechner was a member of the Federal bench for 15 1/2 years and was a Superior Court Judge in the State of New Jersey for 2 1/2 years. Mr. Lechner is a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He received his B.S. degree from Xavier University and his law degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he was a Note & Comment Editor of the Law Review.

Brian P. Halloran, Malibu, California (2002)

Mr. Halloran practices law in Malibu, California and serves as one of the committee's two coordinators of appeals.  Mr. Halloran's law practice concentrates in the area of commercial bankruptcy, corporate and energy law.  Mr. Halloran was a partner with the law firm Connolly Halloran & Lofstedt from 1992 until 2000 and prior to that, was with the firm of Faegre & Benson in Colorado.  Mr. Halloran is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Colorado with a B. A. degree and earned his J. D. degree, Order of the Coif, from the University of Colorado School Of Law. 

Edward Leland, University of the Pacific (2004)

Mr. Leland was named the Vice President for Advancement at the University of the Pacific effective January 1, 2006. Prior to assuming his current position at Pacific, he was the Director of Athletics at Stanford University for 14 years. While at Stanford, Mr. Leland led the university to 10 consecutive Directors' Cups, which recognizes the top overall athletics program in the nation. He has served on several national committees, including the NCAA Management Council (he was the chairman for two years), the U.S. Secretary of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics (he was the co-chairman) and the NACDA Executive Committee. In addition to his work in athletics administration, Leland has held the position of "adjunct professor" at Dartmouth College, UOP and Stanford, teaching courses in Sports Psychology and the Philosophy of Sport. He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford. Prior to coming to Stanford, Leland was the Director of Athletics at Pacific and Dartmouth College. He graduated from Pacific in 1970 and earned a Master's degree in physical education from the university in 1972. Mr. Leland also holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in the field of education/sports psychology.

Dennis Thomas, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (2006)

Mr. Thomas is has served as Commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) since 2001. He has over 30 years of experience in athletic administration and higher education. Prior to being named the Commissioner of the MEAC, Mr. Thomas served as the director of athletics at Hampton University. During his tenure at Hampton, he successfully guided the institution as it transitioned from Division II to Division I. Currently, Mr. Thomas is a member of the NCAA Division I Management Council, Management Council Sub-Committees on Membership, Selection Review and Administrative and the NCAA I-AA Governance Committee. Mr. Thomas is a 1974 graduate of Alcorn State University, where he earned All-American status as a football student-athlete. He also holds a Masters from Northeast Louisiana University and a PhD from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was inducted into the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Hall of Fame in 2003.

Thomas R. Phillips (2006)

Mr. Phillips, one of the committee's three public members, is a partner in the Austin office of Baker Botts L.L.P., concentrating in general litigation, including appellate, trial strategy, and alternate dispute resolution. He retired as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas after seventeen years of service in 2004. A native of Dallas, Phillips earned a B.A. from Baylor University in 1971 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974. He has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from St. Edward's University and Texas Tech University. After law school, Phillips clerked for the Supreme Court of Texas and practiced law in the Houston office of Baker & Botts. From 1981 to 1988, he served as judge of the 280th District Court in Harris County, Texas. In 1988, Governor William P. Clements appointed Phillips Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, a position to which he was elected and re-elected in 1988, 1990, 1996, and 2002. Phillips was president of the Conference of Chief Justices and chair of the Board of Directors of the National Center for State Courts in 1997-98. He previously served on the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, Federal-State Relations Committee of the Administrative Conference of the United States, the Institutions of Democracy Judicial Branch Commission of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the American Bar Association's Task Force on Lawyers' Political Contributions and its Commission on the 21st Century Judiciary, and as a director of the American Judicature Society.

Eileen K. Jennings, Central Michigan University (2006)

Ms. Jennings has been the General Counsel for Central Michigan University since 1983. Previously, she served as Associate University Counsel at Central Michigan, Dean for Student Affairs at Castleton State College, Assistant to the President at Castleton, and counselor at the Oglala Community School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She has been active in the National Association of College and University Attorneys, serving on its board and as member and chair of several committees. Ms. Jennings received a B.A. in Economics from Merrimack College, an M.A. in Counseling from the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and J.D. from the University of Nebraska.

The contact for this page is cdewees@ncaa.org