Myles Brand, the first university president to head the NCAA and a champion of academic reform died Wednesday after battling pancreatic cancer this past year. Brand, a former Indiana University President, championed academic reform, fiscal responsibility and student-athlete well-being during his tenure. He served as NCAA president since January 2003. He was 67.

He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2008 and announced his condition to the NCAA Executive Committee, the national office staff and the leadership at NCAA member schools in January, saying the long-term prognosis for his condition was "not good."

Brand built his presidency on academic reform and advocacy of intercollegiate athletics.

“Myles Brand’s appointment as president of the NCAA represented a new chapter for the organization,” said Graham Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University, “coming at a time when there was strong sentiment for appointing a university president to this leadership role. Many of the NCAA’s challenges are not purely athletic, but rather focus on the concept of the student-athlete. It is hard to imagine anyone who could have made this transition better than Myles.

He was known for advocating for fairness and equal opportunity throughout intercollegiate athletics. He publicly criticized the lack of diversity among college coaches and problems with access to high-ranking athletic positions.

"One of the most egregious instances of this lack of access is the low number of African-American head football coaches and offensive and defensive coordinators in Division I-A," said Brand during his 2003 State of the Association speech. "The current situation is simply unjustifiable."

He created the office for diversity and inclusion at the national office in August 2005. The unit was assigned responsibility for leading efforts to develop and implement strategies, policies and programs that promote diversity and inclusion throughout the NCAA, such as the Diversity Education Program, the Football Coaches Academy, the Expert Coaches Forum, and the Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males and Females.

‘He championed not only diversifying the head-coaching ranks in football,” said Charlotte Westerhaus, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion of him, “but also leadership positions in athletics administration for both men and women.”

He is survived by his wife, Peggy, and one son, Joshua.

• NCAA Tribute Page – Myles Brand: A legacy of leadership
• NCAA Obituary

Today marks the 37th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal legislation prohibiting gender discrimination in high school and intercollegiate athletics.

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Although commonly referred to as Title IX, the formal name of the law was originally Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. It is now formally known as the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal author.

Title IX was enacted June 23, 1972 yet in the 37 years since its creation women are still fighting for equal access in athletics on all levels.

“While great strides have been made, Title IX’s work is not done, especially at the high school level, where girls face continued discrimination in scheduling, equipment, facilities, and overall participation opportunities,” said Lisa Maatz, American Association of University Women director of public policy and government relations. “Because the benefits of girls’ sports are undeniable—better grades, fewer teen pregnancies, less involvement with drugs—it’s critical that we ensure a fair playing field.”

This week AAUW hosted a briefing on Capitol Hill, along with the Women’s Sports Foundation and the National Women’s Law Center, to discuss the need for legislation to require high schools to report gender equity data.

AAUW supports the High School Sports Information Collection Act (S. 471) and the High School Athletics Accountability Act (H.R. 2882), which would help communities better enforce Title IX by making public the expenditures for high school athletic programs and the participation rates of female and male students.

The White House also planned events commemorating this groundbreaking law. It holds a roundtable today at 2:30 p.m. ET featuring Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and an all-star line-up of women athletes and scientists. In addition to the roundtable participants, which include Billie Jean King and Dominique Dawes, 30 local high school aged girls will be in the audience along with several professional athletes and well-known Title IX advocates.

The roundtable will be streamed live on the web both at http://whiteHouse.gov/live and on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/whitehouselive/. The roundtable will be kept up to date during the event on the comments and questions coming in through the chat.

Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations wrote a blog on her experiences as an athlete and Title IX.

“I’m grateful for Title IX and what it means to young women across America,” wrote Rice. She also encouraged women to submit photos of their participation in athletics to be a part of an online feature on the White House web site.

Photo: Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations playing basketball as a youngster at the National Cathedral School in Washington