NCAA President Myles Brand has Pancreatic Cancer

The head of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Myles Brand is being treated for pancreatic cancer and his chances of surviving aren’t good.

Brand’s illness was diagnosed at the beginning of the year, and he began chemotherapy treatment this week.

Brand said in a statement that “I am currently undergoing chemotherapy, and I am receiving excellent care…I will know in the next several months the success of this treatment,” however noted that his long-term prognosis was “not good.”

Brand took charge of the NCAA in January 2003 and has been praised for leading the association through a series of academic reforms that toughened guidelines for athletes and held schools more accountable through publicly released Academic Progress Rates.

Prior to leading the NCAA, Brand had a long academic career, and was President of Indianna University from 1994 to 2002.