RUSTON - Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Tommy McClelland announced Tuesday that the department has hired Amber Burdge as the assistant athletics director for academics.

Burdge comes to Ruston following an almost four year stint as the athletic director at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas where she was hired in July of 2011. During her time at Neosho, she oversaw all aspects of the 16-sport athletic department while serving on the Executive Committee of the institution.

The Neosho athletic programs succeeded on the playing fields, in the classroom and around the community during Burdge's time, winning six individual national titles and earning 19 National Junior College Athletic Association Academic All-American honors and 17 NJCAA All-American accolades.

Burdge oversaw the construction of a new softball complex and basketball court and renovations to the locker rooms. She initiated the Neosho Athletics Hall of Fame and developed the Panther Cup, where the athletic department teams competed against one another in athletic, academic and community success.

Prior to her time at Neosho, Burdge spent almost four years at Stephen F. Austin as the director of student services. She was responsible for administration of the student services support for the University's 17 athletic programs.

During her time in Nacogdoches, Burdge saw 54 student-athletes named to Academic All-Southland Conference teams, with 17 earning first team honors and nine earning academic all-district team accolades. SFA student-athletes representation on the Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll increased over 50 percent during her time at SFA.

Burdge came to Nacogdoches from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, where she spent the 2006-07 year serving as the assistant athletics director for academics and as the senior woman administrator. During her time in Corpus Christi, Burdge monitored the academic progress of all student-athletes, while coordinating academic support services for the men's and women's basketball teams.

She helped increase the number of Islander athletes on the Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll grow from 12 to 58 from fall 2006 to spring 2007 and saw nine student-athletes named to all- academic teams. She also participated in the NCAA Champs/Life Skills Program for Islander athletics, as well as handling administrative responsibilities for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

She spent the previous year at Cleveland State University serving as the athletic academic advisor for men's and women's basketball and at-risk student-athletes. Under her guidance, the Viking men's basketball team was able to achieve the highest team GPA in recorded program history.

Burdge has also spent a combined six years working for academic services at Oklahoma State. During her time in Stillwater, Burdge served as a mentor for the OSU Academic Services for Student-Athletes, as well as helped oversee the academic progress of the student-athletes and assisting in the Innovative Education course.

Burdge completed her bachelor of science in health from Oklahoma State in 2000 as well as her master of science in counseling and student personnel in 2004.