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COLUMBIA, Mo. — It’s official.

The University of Missouri has hired Laird Veatch to be its next athletics director, it announced Tuesday morning.

Veatch, who two decades ago worked with Mizzou athletics in fundraising and media partner roles, will join the university from Memphis, where he has been an athletics director since 2019.

The UM System Board of Curators will meet Wednesday to approve Veatch’s contract. He could be officially introduced in Columbia as soon as Friday. His start date will be May 1, though his starting salary is unclear.

“Veatch is a proven leader with the vision we need to achieve our championship goals,” UM System President and MU Chancellor Mun Choi said in a statement.

“The opportunity to return to the University of Missouri and to Columbia is truly incredible for me and my family,” Veatch said in a statement. “I am grateful to President Choi, the Board of Curators and the members of the search committee for believing in me and in the future of Mizzou Athletics.

“Mizzou has always had a passionate and dedicated fan base including broad support throughout the state, and together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. That includes winning SEC and NCAA championships while providing our student-athletes with a tremendous experience. I am honored and humbled to serve the university and to do my part to elevate Mizzou athletics to unprecedented heights.”

MU’s hire of Veatch ends a nine-week search for an athletics director following Desiree Reed-Francois’ abrupt departure in February. Her exit and the slow pace of the search generated questions about administrative oversight, athletics department finances and expectations for this new hire.

Some of those questions will linger through the start of the Veatch era, which Missouri administrators hope lasts longer than the tenure of the three previous athletics directors — Reed-Francois, Jim Sterk and Mack Rhoades — who occupied the MU big chair for 2½ years, five years and one year respectively.

Mizzou used a nine-member search committee, which included all four members of the UM System Board of Curators’ Mizzou athletics oversight committee, through the hiring process. The curators were joined by three prominent donors and two MU officials on the committee.

“The search committee was dedicated to finding a great director of athletics, but even more important was to find the director of athletics who is the best fit for Mizzou,” said Bob Blitz, a curator and the search committee chair, in a statement. “I am confident Laird will accelerate our path to the pinnacle of SEC athletics.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Laird back to Mizzou as our new athletic director,” Board of Curators Chair Robin Wenneker said in a statement. “Mizzou athletics competes in a dynamic, highly competitive environment and the search committee sought an AD who would not only capture the momentum we have built, but also drive our athletics program to new heights. Laird is the right person to lead athletics to the highest standard of excellence we expect at the University of Missouri.”

The university also paid Turnkey ZRG, an executive search firm, $125,000 for assistance in identifying candidates.

Veatch was a fairly immediate and obvious candidate given his past experience working with Missouri athletics and success at Memphis.

After joining Mizzou in 1997, Veatch worked his way up to lead the athletics department’s fundraising efforts from 2000 to 2002. He later returned to the orbit of MU sports in 2003, working on the external media side as the general manager of Mizzou Sports Properties through Learfield Sports.

Before landing his first AD job with Memphis, Veatch worked his way up through the athletics department at his alma mater, Kansas State, as well as Florida.

At Memphis, Veatch became one of the most aggressive athletics administrators in the name, image and likeness rights space, dedicating resources to that realm earlier than most universities. He also balanced a unique football stadium ownership dynamic with the city of Memphis to secure $200 million in renovations for that facility.

And just last week, Veatch made national headlines for landing a $25 million NIL agreement with FedEx, a landmark deal for a school of Memphis’ size.

Both his fundraising and NIL experience will be vital for Mizzou, which had two priorities when vetting candidates for the AD position: fundraising and supporting football.

The need for fundraising aligns with the rising revenues and expenses of modern college sports. Under Reed-Francois, Mizzou athletics routinely spent and brought in record amounts — though that included some institutional support from the academic side of the university, which has generated some concern.

More concretely, Veatch will need to advance fundraising efforts for the $250 million renovations of the Memorial Stadium north concourse that MU leaders announced last week. The athletics department has pledged to fund half of that project through donations, and while a $50 million anonymous contribution is a significant first step toward that benchmark, there’s plenty of fundraising still to be done.

Supporting Eli Drinkwitz’s football program is another early task for Veatch. The Tigers are poised to be contenders for the College Football Playoff this season, and MU leadership wants them to stay in that mix. Leveraging NIL and donations — while ensuring Drinkwitz feels he has what he needs to remain competitive in the Southeastern Conference — will likely fold into those job responsibilities.

Veatch has a wife and four children. As a football player at Kansas State, he was a linebacker and team captain under legendary coach Bill Snyder.