The United States Military Academies play an important role in developing future leaders. All five of the Academies offer competitive athletic programs. As academic excellence is a cornerstone for each one, I wanted to understand how the Faculty Athletics Representative functions inside the military chain of command. This FAR can walk into the Vice-Admiral's Office (aka the Superintendent) at the Naval Academy whenever she has an academic concern.

My guest is Dr. Christine Copper, a professor of chemistry at the U.S. Naval Academy. In addition to representing the Naval Academy as its FAR since 2008, she was also the first-ever FAR on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors. She co-chaired the NCAA working group on Values-Based Revenue Distribution that brought historic change to the NCAA’s financial distribution model by including academic incentives for the first time ever. She is also is the past President of the Faculty Athletics Representative Association.

She was appointed to the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in 2018, and to date, is the only FAR to serve on that board.

Read my article about why Cadets at the Military Academies will be prohibited from monetizing their NILs, no matter what the states decide.