20 Nittany Lion Roster

SANDY BARBOUR

VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS WAKE FOREST ’81 (B.S.) MASSACHUSETTS ’83 (M.S.) NORTHWESTERN ’91 (M.B.A)

With student success and comprehensive excellence as a steadfast focus, Sandy Barbour enters her sixth year as the dynamic leader of the Penn State Intercollegiate Athletic program. Barbour has helped the Nittany Lions continue to ascend and thrive as one of the nation’s most successful athletic departments. Barbour has more than 35 years of varied experiences as a collegiate administrator and coach, with a demonstrated record of championships, academic success, innovation, facility modernization and revenue growth. She began her passionate and effective leadership of the Penn State Athletic program in August 2014, when she was named the Nittany Lions’ ninth Director of Athletics by President Eric J. Barron. In February 2019, Barbour received a contract extension through August 31, 2023, and assumed the title of Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics.

Nittany Lions Students are the “Why” for Penn State Athletics

Barbour began implementing her vision for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics and creating conditions for success for the department’s “Why” – the more than 800 Nittany Lion student-athletes. She oversees a broad-based program that supports students competing in 31 sports and a staff of more than 300 individuals whose daily mission is preparing students for a lifetime of impact. A reorganization of ICA introduced four administrative divisions: student-athlete performance, health and welfare; internal and external relations and operations, administration and business and finance. Barbour also announced a wide-ranging strategic planning process to determine strategies and priorities for the formalized 2017-21 strategic plan.

Excellence in Academics and Athletics

Penn State student-athletes have consistently raised the bar and broken or tied school academic records in the last five years, including the number of Academic All-Big Ten and Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recipients in 2018-19. Spring 2019 concluded with another record as the Nittany Lions delivered a 3.17 grade-point average for the semester. Eighteen Nittany Lions have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades during Barbour’s tenure, boosting Penn State’s all-time total to 205, No. 4 nationally among Division I institutions. In November 2018, the NCAA reported its annual national graduation rates study, and, for the second-straight year, Penn State studentathletes tied a school record with a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent. Eight Nittany Lion teams earned a perfect 100 percent GSR.

Six NCAA Team Championships and 29 Conference Titles

During Barbour’s five years in Happy Valley, the Nittany Lions have captured six NCAA Championships in women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and wrestling and won 24 Big Ten titles and five EIVA crowns for 29 total conference championships. In 2018-19, Penn State captured its fourth consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship and six Big Ten regular-season or tournament titles in wrestling, men’s lacrosse, women’s soccer and men’s gymnastics. A total of 19 squads participated in their respective NCAA Championship or a bowl game in 2018-19 and Penn State ranked ninth in the year’s final Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup standings.

AD of the Year Recipient in 2016-17 and Finalist in 2018

Barbour’s leadership was recognized with her selection for the prestigious National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Under Armour AD of the Year Award in 2016-17. Twice Barbour has been named a finalist for Sports Business Journal’s prestigious Athletic Director of the Year, most recently in 2018. Forbes also has recognized Barbour among the top executives in sports. In 2018, she was selected No. 13 among the Most Powerful Women in Sports and No. 2 overall in college sports. In 2015, Forbes named her one of the Top 25 Most Powerful People in College Sports, noting Barbour “has developed a reputation for being one of the most forward-thinking administrators in all of college sports.” Barbour is a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, and in 2017, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) appointed her as one of the inaugural members of its Collegiate Advisory Council.

A Path of Successful Leadership

Serving as the Director of Athletics at Cal from 2004-14, Barbour guided the Golden Bears through one of the most successful periods in school history. Twenty team national championships, 97 individual national titles, and six top-10 finishes, including No. 3 in 2011, in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup standings were highlights of her tenure. Barbour was the deputy director of athletics at Notre Dame, the senior athletic administrator from July 2002 to September 2004. She oversaw facilities and event operations was also responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing the university’s $127 million athletics facilities master plan. In 1996, Barbour was appointed Tulane’s director of athletics at age 36. The Green Wave won four conference championships in her first year, a feat never before accomplished, and continued its success with 12 titles in three years. She hired Tommy Bowden as football coach and the Green Wave posted its first winning season in 16 years. The next season, Tulane went 12-0, won a Conference USA title and earned a No. 7 national ranking as 1998 Liberty Bowl champions. Born in Annapolis, Md., Barbour grew up in a military family. Her father was a career aviator in the U.S. Navy, and her family lived in various U.S. locations and in Western Europe during her childhood. Barbour graduated cum laude in 1981 with a B.S. degree in physical education from Wake Forest University, where she was a four-year letterwinner and captain of the field hockey team. She also played two seasons of women’s basketball for the Demon Deacons. Barbour earned advanced degrees at the University of Massachusetts (an M.S. in sports management in 1983) and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management (an MBA in 1991). Barbour’s career in intercollegiate athletics began as a field hockey assistant coach and lacrosse administrative assistant at Massachusetts in 1981.