UGA Deputy Athletic Director Stepping Down, Cites Burnout

After five years, the University of Georgia's deputy athletic director will leave his position, he announced this week. 

Magdi El Shahawy, who became deputy athletic director for academics and student development in 2018, said in a social media post that the reason for his departure is burnout. 

"Quite frankly 'Burnout' is a very real thing and I found myself exhibiting all of the symptoms of burnout," Shahawy wrote in a post to Facebook on his personal page Monday. "The career I loved had all of a sudden become a job and I found myself leading from an empty tank. I’ve been questioning whether I’m making the impact that energized me for so many years."

Shahawy, who has spent "30 amazing years" in the industry said the past 2.5 years have been the most challenging of his personal life and it has impacted the energy level required to perform at his peak professionally.

Shahawy said that he told himself last summer that if he still felt the same way this year, he would do something about it.

He previously worked in athletics for the University of Southern California, Michigan State University and Florida State University, Atlanta First News reported. He was also a defensive lineman at FSU.

Leaving UGA might not be the end of his work in the industry, though. Shahawy said he might return to the industry “when the time is right.”

“Looking back I didn’t do a good job of keeping myself fresh and being present when I was off work,” he wrote, as reported by WAGA-TV. “It’s now time to truly unplug and see what God has in store for the future.”

In his Facebook post, Shahawy also offered four pieces of advice:

• Take care of yourself.
• Make sure you have balance in your life.
• Take real vacations every year not just long weekends here and there.
• Keep yourself fresh by unplugging from time to time.