MOON TOWNSHIP — After 13 years serving as the director of athletics at Robert Morris University, Dr. Craig Coleman will be stepping down from his position effective as of Dec. 7.

The news was released in an email sent by University President Dr. Christopher B. Howard. The email read, “It is with mixed emotions that I announce that director of athletics Dr. Craig Coleman is leaving the university effective Dec. 7, 2018, after 13 years overseeing RMU’s NCAA Division I sports programs.”

In the press release on the RMU Athletics website, Dr. Coleman said, “After a 13-year hiatus, I’ve decided to return to my previous career in medicine … I’m extremely grateful to the university for the opportunity to have served the athletic department as athletic director and coach.”

Dr. Coleman plans to return to his medical career. His medical career was stated in the email sent by Dr. Howard. The email stated, “Prior to being hired as RMU’s director of athletics, Dr. Coleman worked as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine from 1988 to 2005. He served as the medical director of several inpatient units, residential treatment facilities, and partial hospital programs at UPMC.”

The university will be conducting a search for Coleman’s successor. Senior associate athletics director Marty Galosi will be taking over Coleman’s responsibilities in the meantime while a replacement search for Coleman is being conducted.

Additionally, Coleman served as the head softball coach for Robert Morris, a position he has served in since the team’s inception in 1991. During his tenure, Coleman led Softball to six NEC tournament championships and eight NEC regular season titles. Assistant softball coach Jexx Verner has been named interim head coach.

Under Coleman’s tenure as RMU’s director of athletics, RMU NCAA Division I teams have claimed a total of 24 regular-season championships and earned 16 automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament.