Columbia has hired Peter Pilling, a vice president at IMG College, the sports marketing firm, to be its next athletic director, the university said Tuesday.

It will be Pilling’s first experience with the Ivy League. A graduate of Brigham Young, he spent the last nine years at IMG College. Before that he held senior roles in the athletic departments at Brigham Young and Villanova.

In a phone interview, Pilling said he considered the appointment to be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, in which he gets to oversee the athletic department at an academically rigorous institution.

“When I talked to people about this position, everybody described it as a special place,” said Pilling, who will replace M. Dianne Murphy, who announced in September that she would step down and is set to do so April 13. “I feel very fortunate to be offered this position and excited about the future.”