Michigan State appoints interim athletic director
Jon Palumbo named Michigan State interim athletic director effective immediately; $3.95M buyout for Batt.
Michigan State athletics has new temporary leadership.
MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz named Jon Palumbo as interim athletic director on Friday, July 10. He will replace outgoing AD J Batt to run the department until a permanent replacement can be hired. The move is effective immediately, according to Matt Larson, MSU’s senior vice president of communications.
Per MSU spokesman Matt Larson, Batt “has transitioned away from operational duties and will use accumulated vacation time until his last official day of July 27.”
“Jon has been an integral part of the innovation of MSU Athletics over the past year, and I have every confidence in his ability to maintain its positive trajectory as interim athletic director,” Guskiewicz said in a statement. “This will be a seamless transition for MSU Athletics, and we look forward to a successful start of the upcoming season for our programs and student-athletes.”
Batt, whose hiring was approved by MSU’s Board of Trustees on June 13, 2025 and whose first day of work was four days later, took the job at Kentucky on Monday, June 15 and will officially begin his new position July 28 in Lexington, Kentucky. MSU will receive a $3.95 million contract buyout from Kentucky for Batt leaving.
Guskiewicz lured Batt away from Georgia Tech last spring, but Batt quickly found a new home less than three weeks after Guskiewicz announced May 27 he would be leaving MSU to take the president position at Clemson. However, Guskiewicz announced Monday he would remain as MSU’s president.
Similarly, one of Batt’s first moves was to pry Palumbo away from Georgia Tech, hiring him at on July 7, 2025. Palumbo arrived as executive deputy athletic director/chief operating officer, and he added the title of CEO for the newly created Spartan Ventures athletic department fundraising arm.
Palumbo was athletic director at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from 2018-22 before joining Batt at Georgia Tech. When Batt left for MSU, Palumbo took over at Georgia Tech on an interim basis before joining Batt in East Lansing.
“I’m honored to serve the university in this interim role, and I am grateful to President Guskiewicz for placing his trust and belief in me,” Palumbo in a statement. “I look forward to working with our student-athletes, coaches and staff to build on the positive momentum we have established and continue to move MSU Athletics forward.”
Michigan State athletic directors
- Charles Bemies: 1899-1900.
- George Denham: 1901-02.
- Chester Brewer: 1903-10, 1917, 1919-21.
- John Macklin: 1911-15.
- George Gauthier: 1916, 1918.
- Albert Barron: 1922.
- Ralph Young: 1923-54.
- Clarence “Biggie” Munn: 1954-72.
- J. Burt Smith: 1972-75.
- John D. Shingleton: 1975-76.
- Joe Kearney: 1976-80.
- Doug Weaver: 1980-90.
- George Perles: 1990-92.
- Merrily Dean Baker: 1992-95.
- Merritt Norvell: 1995-99.
- Clarence Underwood: 1999-2002.
- Ron Mason: 2002-07.
- Mark Hollis: 2007-18.
- Bill Beekman: 2018-2021.
- Alan Haller: 2021-May 1, 2025.
- J Batt: June 13, 2025-July 10, 2026
- Jon Palumbo (interim AD) July 10, 2026.
