Former Brown University head coach Peter Brand has been named coach of the Harvard's men's and women's fencing teams, athletic department officials announced this week.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic," said Brand, who was an assistant fencing coach at MIT before taking the Brown position.

Brand said he hopes to expand the program's recruiting efforts and bring a new work ethic to the team, which has struggled in recent years. Last season the men finished 1-8 (0-5 Ivy), while the women posted a slightly more impressive 9-3 (3-3 Ivy) record.

"Recruiting is big on the agenda because there hasn't been a lot of recruiting in fencing over the past couple of years," he said. "What I've seen...is a program which obviously needs a lot of work in terms of recruiting, and raising morale and expectations."

Brand--who has had achieved numerous honors throughout his career, including a gold medal win for the U.S. at the Maccabiah Games in 1989--said he hopes to send more Harvard players to the Ivy League and NCAA tournaments.

And although this position will be his first coaching job at Harvard, Brand--who came to the U.S. from Israel at age 13--has had ties to the Harvard team in the past.

"When I was competing in this area in the past, I used to go up to Harvard and work out with the team, so I know the culture of Harvard as far as athletics is concerned," he said.

Brand lives in Needham, Mass., so the new job will shorten his commute, as well.

According to Assistant Director for Sports Media Relations Paul McNeeley, Harvard officials felt they were lucky to find a coach with so much previous experience.