Northwestern interim Athletic Director Ken Kraft said Monday he has applied for NIU’s permanent directorship.

Kraft’s statement comes on the heels of the search committee’s first meeting Friday, where committee members began to set up shop and screen applicants. Committee Chairman Nancy Vedral declined to comment on where Kraft stood among applicants.

Kraft said NIU sent him a letter over the summer, saying he had been nominated for athletic director. He said he responded with an application letter but has not received anything other than an acknowledgement letter. He said he wrote the letter more than a month ago and has not spoken with anyone snce.

Kraft, 52, grew up in Sterling, Ill., in western Illinois, and he said his high school belonged to the same conference as DeKalb High School, which started his interest in NIU. He also said an older sister attended NIU in the 1950s.

“I respect the institution a great deal,” Kraft said. “Their athletic department is in some kind of transition. It sits there on the metro area with the potential for success. There’s a lot to be accomplished, and it’s a great opportunity. I feel my experience and my background would fit very well.”

Kraft, who also is applying for Northwestern’s permanent post, said he thinks both football and men’s basketball can be successful because opportunities exist in both. He said he would have difficulty saying whether football or men’s basketball would have more success.

Northwestern’s interim AD said he has not heard of other athletic department personnel in the Big Ten who might have applied. He declined to mention who he felt would be qualified candidates from that conference because he said he probably would leave out a few names.

Kraft graduated from Northwestern in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree. He then coached the wrestling team for 22 years, earning a master’s in that period, before moving into athletic administration. He also has dabbled with television, working for ABC and NBC during the Olympics and on ESPN’s college wrestling coverage.

Wisconsin Assistant Athletic Director Ralph Neale said he did not know the position was open and said he had no plans to apply.

Vedral said Friday’s meeting established criteria, which was incorporated in the university’s ads in NCAA News and the Chronicle of Higher Education and NIU President John LaTourette’s speech to the Athletic Board last week. LaTourette mentioned nine specific items he expected the new director to achieve.

Committee members have been given all the applications and will screen applicants using a criteria list until Sept. 25, Vedral said. The committee will meet again and cut the number of applicants to 10 or 12 people, she said. Vedral added she does not know how many more will survive the next cut.

“They go over the whole list,” Vedral said. “That’s what they wanted.”

Vedral said between 50 and 60 people have applied. She said the committee is trying to complete the search quickly, but she said “it is highly unlikely” the committee will finish by the middle of October, as the president would like.