California Academic Decathlon Replaces Its Executive Director

The California Academic Decathlon has replaced its executive director, the organization’s board president confirmed Friday.

Jeff McCombs said Marvin Cobb was no longer on the job, effective Wednesday night. He said he could not discuss the circumstances of Cobb’s departure, calling it a confidential “personnel matter.”

When contacted by The Times on Friday, Cobb said he had been fired from the $65,000-a-year post.

Cobb said he was not informed in advance about the dismissal before the board discussed it in a telephone conference.

“I’m shocked and very disappointed with the actions of the current CAD board president,” Cobb said. “I’m exploring all of my options while I continue to be a fan of the Academic Decathlon program.”

During Cobb’s nearly four-year tenure, California teams won three out of the last four national championships. But fundraising for the privately funded organization lagged so badly that officials nearly had to cancel this year’s statewide competition. After a Times story about the popular competition’s plight, several firms and individuals stepped in with donations to save it.

Board member Susan Beatty has been named interim director and a search committee has been formed to find a permanent leader, McCombs said.

“We are looking to find a permanent executive director as soon as possible,” McCombs said, “but we will be very prudent in finding the right person.”

The Academic Decathlon, in which teams composed of A, B and C students compete with other schools in 10 subject areas, was founded in California in 1968 and has become one of the nation’s best-known scholastic contests.