The Oakland University Athletic Department announced today the hiring of Phil Hess as the new Sports Information Director. Hess replaces Amy Hirschman who has taken the position of Assistant to the Athletic Director at Oakland. Hess officially begins at OU on October 21. "We are excited to have Phil join our staff," OU Athletic Director Jack Mehl said. "Phil's experience in sports information and his technical background are a great fit for our vision. We have come a long way technically and Phil is the person that is going to continue that advancement." The Kalamazoo, Michigan native will join the OU staff after a one-year stint as Director of Athletic Media Relations at East Tennessee State University. At ETSU, Hess was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the athletic media relations office and supervised a staff of two employees and numerous student workers and game staff. He primarily worked with football, men's basketball and baseball. Hess was involved in the development of new and improved radio and television opportunities and he served at ETSU's webmaster and as the department's spokesperson as needed. Hess' sports information career spans the past decade and other full-time stops include The College of William & Mary, West Virginia University and Utah State University. A 1982 graduate of the University of Michigan, Hess received his bachelor's of science degree in Aerospace Engineering. Upon graduating from Michigan, he spent 10 years working for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in Huntsville, Alabama. Following his 10-year career with NASA, Hess decided on a career change and went to graduate school at the University of Richmond. Hess graduated from Richmond with a master's of sports management in 1993.