Not without paying her $6.5 Million (have you read the details of her new contract?)
I have never seen such surtax to an AD contract.
Stunning.
This is why she got the big contract, but I’m sure everyone here knows that:
Recognized as one of the nation’s premier Athletic Directors, Sandy Barbour enters her fifth year as the dynamic leader of the Penn State Intercollegiate Athletic program. With student success as a steadfast focus, Barbour has helped the Nittany Lions continue to ascend as one of the nation’s most successful athletic departments in comprehensive excellence.
Barbour began her passionate and effective leadership of the Penn State Athletics program in August, 2014. President Eric J. Barron named Barbour the Nittany Lions’ ninth Director of Athletics after serving 10 years as Director of Athletics at the University of California.
During Barbour’s initial four years, Penn State student-athletes have consistently raised the bar and broken school academic records. In the 2018 spring semester, Nittany Lion student-athletes delivered a record 3.15 grade-point average and tied the highest percentage (66 percent) and number of teams (26) earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
A school record 360 Nittany Lions earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2017-18 for posting at least a 3.0 GPA and 173 student-athletes earned their degrees during the 2017 calendar year.
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 directs one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful athletic programs that boasts an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent, with 31 sports and an Intercollegiate Athletics staff of more than 300, whose mantra is preparing students for a lifetime of impact.
Nittany Lions Students are the “Why” for Penn State Athletics
It didn’t take long for Barbour to begin 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.
Six months after arriving at Penn State, she announced a reorganization of ICA that introduced a more vertical structure to encourage communication and collaboration across functional units and sports. Four administrative divisions were formed: student-athlete performance, health and welfare; internal and external operation, administration and business and finance.
Midway through 2015, Penn State Athletics launched a wide-ranging strategic planning process and conducted a series of town hall meetings. Students, faculty and staff, alumni, donors and the public were presented with some of the initial findings of the project and had an opportunity to provide feedback. The project helped determine strategies and priorities for the formalized 2017-21 strategic plan.
One of the nation's most highly-respected athletic directors, Barbour also is overseeing a comprehensive facilities master plan that was announced in March 2017. Penn State partnered with Populous, one of the world's leading architecture and sport event planning firms, to collaborate on programming, developing and producing a comprehensive facilities master plan to provide a 20-year road map for addressing current and long-term needs for all of the Nittany Lions' facilities (competition, practice, performance enhancement and training).
Less than two months after the facilities master plan was unveiled in 2017, Penn State announced a $3.55 million gift from men’s lacrosse letterman and graduate Ken Panzer and his business partner, Jordan Kaplan, to launch construction on a new lacrosse facility. The project will transform the Penn State Lacrosse Field to become one of the top lacrosse venues in the nation. Construction on Panzer Stadium is on schedule for completion prior to the 2018 fall semester.
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, having directed Penn State to nine conference championships and one NCAA title. She was among four Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Athletic Directors to be honored at the 2017 NACDA Convention, marking the second time she’s received the NACDA honor.
In March 2018, she was named one of five finalists for Sports Business Journal’s prestigious Athletic Director of the Year. Barbour, the recent chair of the Big Ten Athletic Directors, was recognized at the 11th Annual SBJ Sports Business Awards Gala in New York City in May, the second time she’s been a finalist for SBJ’s Athletic Director of the Year.
Academic Excellence Among Record-Setting Achievements; 90 Percent NCAA Graduation Rate
Penn State student-athletes have consistently delivered record-setting academic performances during Barbour's tenure. In the 2018 spring semester, Nittany Lion students delivered a record 3.15 grade-point average and tied the highest percentage (66 percent) and number of teams (26) earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
In the 2017 fall semester, Nittany Lion students again shattered school marks, as 26 teams and 520 student-athletes, earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average. A record total of 253 Nittany Lion students posted at least a 3.5 GPA last fall to garner Dean’s List honors (minimum 12 credits).
Starting with the 2014 fall semester, Barbour’s first as Penn State AD, Penn State student-athletes have achieved the eight highest semesters all-time for the number of students earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
In November 2017, the NCAA released its annual national graduation rates study, which revealed that Penn State student-athletes earned a school record-tying Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent, which is an increase of two points from the 2015 NCAA report. Nine Nittany Lion teams earned a perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rate, up from five squads in 2015.
Nearly 270 Graduates Since May 2017; Record 360 Academic All-Big Ten Honorees
A total of 267 Penn State student-athletes earned have earned their degrees since May, 2017, with 173 during the 2017 calendar year and 94 following the 2018 spring semester. A total of 15 Nittany Lions have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades during Barbour’s tenure, boosting Penn State’s all-time total to 201, good for No. 4 nationally among Division I institutions. Five Nittany Lions were selected CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2016-17.
During the 2017-18 academic year, Nittany Lion students again shattered school records for Academic All-Big Ten honorees (3.0 GPA), with 360 recipients. Seasonal marks were set by student-athletes from the fall (117) and spring/at-large (166) sports and the spring/at-large total was a Penn State record for the sixth consecutive year.
Five NCAA Team Championships and 23 Conference Titles
During Barbour’s four years of leading Penn State Athletics, the Nittany Lions have captured a total of five NCAA Championships in women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and wrestling and won 18 Big Ten titles and five EIVA crowns for a total of 23 conference championships.
The Nittany Lions won their third consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship and captured three Big Ten crowns or tournament titles in 2017-18 in wrestling, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball. A total of 21 Penn State squads participated in their respective NCAA Championship or a bowl game (Fiesta Bowl Champions) in 2017-18 and Zain Retherford won the Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top wrestler for the second consecutive year.
A total of 20 Penn student-athletes have won NCAA individual national championships since 2014-15, including a combined total of 13 the past two years from four different sports. In 2017-18, seven Nittany Lions were crowned NCAA individual champions in wrestling, men’s track and field and men’s gymnastics. A total of 11 Nittany Lions won Big Ten individual titles this past year.
Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the Learfield Directors’ Cup in the final fall 2017 and winter 2018 standings and has earned a pair of Top 10 finishes (three in Top 15) in the final standings under Barbour’s direction, including No. 8 in 2016-17. Penn State Athletics also was ranked No. 9 among the nation’s 65 Autonomy Five institutions in 2017-18, according to Yahoo! Sports.
More than 6,000 Hours of Community Engagement with 40-Plus Organizations
In addition to their academic and athletic achievements, student-athletes have helped support Penn State’s comprehensive excellence by combining to spend more than 6,200 hours involved in community engagement in 2016-17. Nittany Lion students annually participate in community engagement with more than 40 organizations.
A former student-athlete and graduate of Wake Forest University, Barbour is a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. In 2017, she was selected as one of the inaugural members of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Collegiate Advisory Council. The CAC is charged with bridging the gap between high-contributing collegiate stakeholders and the Olympic Movement.
Happy Valley Jam and NHL Pre-season Games Among Initiatives
Barbour has overseen the additional utilization of ICA’s physical assets, resulting in the first NHL pre-season game in Pegula Ice Arena and the initial concert in Beaver Stadium – the Happy Valley Jam, featuring Blake Shelton, in July 2017. A second NHL pre-season contest, featuring the Buffalo Sabres against the Pittsburgh Penguins, occurred in September 2017 in a sold-out Pegula Ice Arena.
Personal Pride in New Morgan Academic Center
The first facility project completed under Barbour’s direction is one she is particularly proud of -- the conversion of the Greenberg Sports Complex to a new Morgan Academic Center. Advising, tutoring, computer labs, group study areas and meeting rooms for student-athletes previously were located in four separate locations on campus.
The 2016 completion of the MAC provided a central and expanded academic and student welfare hub for Penn State’s 800 student-athletes and will assist in keeping academic services and the academic performance of Nittany Lion student-athletes at the forefront among the nation’s premier Division I institutions.
Early in her tenure at Penn State, Barbour made a gift of $100,000 for the Morgan Academic Center project, with a portion of her donation used to create a One Button production studio where students can record a speech or presentation and review it prior to delivering in class.
Recognized by Forbes Among Top Executives in Sports
Forbes has recognized Barbour twice in recent years among the top executives in sports. In April 2018, Barbour was selected No. 13 among the Most Powerful Women in Sports. She was among four executives listed who work primarily in intercollegiate athletics and was the highest ranked Athletic Director -- No. 2 overall in college sports.
In December 2015, Forbes named Barbour one of the Top 25 Most Powerful People in College Sports, ranking among six Athletic Directors and two female administrators on the list. Forbes said that Barbour "has developed a reputation for being one of the most forward-thinking administrators in all of college sports."
Record-Setting Academic Achievements and Seven Big Ten Titles in 2016-17
The NCAA reported in May 2017 that 18 Penn State squads earned perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores of 1,000 in 2015-16, up from 13 the previous year. A school record 114 student-athletes graduated following the 2017 spring semester.
Under Barbour’s leadership, a then-school record 299 student-athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten accolades in 2015-16, with the mark tied in 2016-17. Five student-athletes were selected CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2016-17. During the 2017 spring semester, a school 66 percent of NIttany Lion students earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average.
The Nittany Lions won seven Big Ten Championships or tournament titles in seven sports in 2016-17, the most of any Conference institution. Penn State’s seven Big Ten Championships were the third-highest total in school history. The Nittany Lions won nine conference titles overall, as the men’s volleyball team won the EIVA regular season and tournament titles.
Penn State captured its second consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship and won Big Ten titles in field hockey, football, women’s soccer, women’s indoor track and field, wrestling (regular season), men’s hockey and men’s outdoor track and field in 2016-17. The Nittany Lion football team won its first Big Ten title since 2008 in its initial appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game, rallying from a 28-7 deficit to beat in a 38-31 thriller and earn a berth in the Rose Bowl.
Nittany Lion student-athletes won six NCAA individual national championships and 13 Big Ten individual crowns in 2016-17 and Zain Retherford won the Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top wrestler. A total of 22 Penn State squads participated in their respective NCAA Championship or bowl game.
Penn State placed No. 8 in the final Learfield Directors’ Cup standings for 2016-17, earning its second Top 10 finish under Barbour and fourth in the past five years.
Pair of NCAA Championships and Five Big Ten Crowns Highlight 2015-16
Barbour saw the Nittany Lions capture NCAA Championships in women’s soccer and wrestling and five Big Ten titles in women’s cross country, women’s soccer and wrestling in 2015-16. The women’s lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 1999 and was among six Nittany Lion programs that finished No. 6 nationally or higher in their respective NCAA Championship.
Penn State student-athletes won four NCAA individual national championships and seven Big Ten individual crowns in 2015-16 and Raquel Rodriguez earned the MAC Hermann Trophy as collegiate soccer’s top female player. Penn State finished No. 20 in the 2015-16 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, 18 Nittany Lion squads competed in their respective NCAA Championships and the football team played in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
During the 2015 fall semester, a then-school record 516 Nittany Lions earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average, breaking the mark of 500 set the previous fall semester.
NCAA Championship and Three Big Ten Crowns Highlight 2014-15
Barbour began her tenure in Happy Valley with a pair of championships during the 2014 fall semester and two more titles in the spring. The women’s volleyball team captured its second consecutive NCAA Championship and the women’s soccer squad earned the Big Ten crown during the fall. In the spring, the men’s gymnastics team captured the Big Ten title in front of an enthusiastic Rec Hall crowd, the women’s lacrosse squad won the inaugural Big Ten Women’s Lacrosse Tournament and the men’s volleyball captured the EIVA regular season and tournament titles.
Penn State finished No. 8 in the 2014-15 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings to cap Barbour’s first year. Twenty Nittany Lion squads competed in their respective NCAA Championships, the football team won the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, and 30 teams participated in post-season competition. Nine Penn State teams advanced to or finished in the Top/Elite 8 of their respective NCAA Championship in 2014-15. The Nittany Lions also captured individual NCAA titles in men’s fencing, men’s gymnastics and wrestling.
The 2014-15 academic year was punctuated with the selection of wrestling national champion Matt Brown as the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for all sports.
Ten Years Leading Cal Athletics to Consistent Comprehensive Excellence
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. Under her direction, the athletic department became one of the consistently elite programs in the country. Barbour’s 10-year term as AD was the longest tenure for the department since men’s and women’s athletics merged into a single entity in 1992.
During her tenure overseeing Cal’s 30-sport program, the Golden Bears won 20 team national championships, 97 individual national titles, finished in the top 10 in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup standings six times, including a program-best third in 2011, and reached record levels in ticket sales, sponsorships and fundraising.
Among Cal's many team athletic accomplishments under Barbour’s leadership were a 2006 Pac-12 co-championship and seven bowl game invitations in football; the men's basketball team's first conference title in 50 years in 2009-10; a first-ever NCAA Final Four berth in women's basketball in 2013, two trips to the national semifinals in women’s volleyball and six NCAA Championships in men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
In 2013-14, Cal secured the largest field naming-rights deal in collegiate sports history at the time, when Kabam, a technology company, signed on to name Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium.
Named one of the "100 Most Influential Women in Business" in the Bay Area according to the San Francisco Business Times, NACDA named Barbour a regional Athletic Director of the Year for 2008-09 and she was a finalist for National AD of the Year at the Sports Business Awards. She also was recognized as the 2006 National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Division I-A National Administrator of the Year.
Prior to her tenure at Berkeley, Barbour was the deputy director of athletics at Notre Dame, serving as the university's senior athletic administrator from July 2002 to September 2004. She previously held an associate athletic director position there starting in 2000.
In her position at Notre Dame, Barbour oversaw facilities and event operations for the school's 26-sport program, including football game management and the department's two golf courses. She was also responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing Notre Dame's $127 million athletics facilities master plan.
In 1996, Barbour was appointed Tulane's director of athletics at age 36, and during her three years overseeing the program, Green Wave teams won 12 conference championships. In her first year in the position, the school captured four conference titles, a feat never before accomplished in Tulane history. She also hired Tommy Bowden as head football coach during her first year. Bowden proceeded in 1997 to post the Green Wave's first winning season (7-4) in 16 years, and then directed the school to a 12-0 record, a Conference USA championship and a No. 7 national ranking the following season as the 1998 Liberty Bowl champions. Barbour was recruited to Tulane as an associate athletic director in 1991.
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 as well as 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 served as 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.
Between master's programs, Barbour served as assistant field hockey and lacrosse coach at Northwestern from 1982-84. She also held the position of director of recruiting services during that period, before being promoted to assistant athletic director for intercollegiate programs in 1984, a position she held until 1989.
Prior to joining Tulane, Barbour worked in programming and production for FOX Sports Net in Chicago during the summer of 1990.
This is why she got the big contract, but I’m sure everyone here knows that:
Recognized as one of the nation’s premier Athletic Directors, Sandy Barbour enters her fifth year as the dynamic leader of the Penn State Intercollegiate Athletic program. With student success as a steadfast focus, Barbour has helped the Nittany Lions continue to ascend as one of the nation’s most successful athletic departments in comprehensive excellence.
Barbour began her passionate and effective leadership of the Penn State Athletics program in August, 2014. President Eric J. Barron named Barbour the Nittany Lions’ ninth Director of Athletics after serving 10 years as Director of Athletics at the University of California.
During Barbour’s initial four years, Penn State student-athletes have consistently raised the bar and broken school academic records. In the 2018 spring semester, Nittany Lion student-athletes delivered a record 3.15 grade-point average and tied the highest percentage (66 percent) and number of teams (26) earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
A school record 360 Nittany Lions earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2017-18 for posting at least a 3.0 GPA and 173 student-athletes earned their degrees during the 2017 calendar year.
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 directs one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful athletic programs that boasts an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent, with 31 sports and an Intercollegiate Athletics staff of more than 300, whose mantra is preparing students for a lifetime of impact.
Nittany Lions Students are the “Why” for Penn State Athletics
It didn’t take long for Barbour to begin 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.
Six months after arriving at Penn State, she announced a reorganization of ICA that introduced a more vertical structure to encourage communication and collaboration across functional units and sports. Four administrative divisions were formed: student-athlete performance, health and welfare; internal and external operation, administration and business and finance.
Midway through 2015, Penn State Athletics launched a wide-ranging strategic planning process and conducted a series of town hall meetings. Students, faculty and staff, alumni, donors and the public were presented with some of the initial findings of the project and had an opportunity to provide feedback. The project helped determine strategies and priorities for the formalized 2017-21 strategic plan.
One of the nation's most highly-respected athletic directors, Barbour also is overseeing a comprehensive facilities master plan that was announced in March 2017. Penn State partnered with Populous, one of the world's leading architecture and sport event planning firms, to collaborate on programming, developing and producing a comprehensive facilities master plan to provide a 20-year road map for addressing current and long-term needs for all of the Nittany Lions' facilities (competition, practice, performance enhancement and training).
Less than two months after the facilities master plan was unveiled in 2017, Penn State announced a $3.55 million gift from men’s lacrosse letterman and graduate Ken Panzer and his business partner, Jordan Kaplan, to launch construction on a new lacrosse facility. The project will transform the Penn State Lacrosse Field to become one of the top lacrosse venues in the nation. Construction on Panzer Stadium is on schedule for completion prior to the 2018 fall semester.
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, having directed Penn State to nine conference championships and one NCAA title. She was among four Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Athletic Directors to be honored at the 2017 NACDA Convention, marking the second time she’s received the NACDA honor.
In March 2018, she was named one of five finalists for Sports Business Journal’s prestigious Athletic Director of the Year. Barbour, the recent chair of the Big Ten Athletic Directors, was recognized at the 11th Annual SBJ Sports Business Awards Gala in New York City in May, the second time she’s been a finalist for SBJ’s Athletic Director of the Year.
Academic Excellence Among Record-Setting Achievements; 90 Percent NCAA Graduation Rate
Penn State student-athletes have consistently delivered record-setting academic performances during Barbour's tenure. In the 2018 spring semester, Nittany Lion students delivered a record 3.15 grade-point average and tied the highest percentage (66 percent) and number of teams (26) earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
In the 2017 fall semester, Nittany Lion students again shattered school marks, as 26 teams and 520 student-athletes, earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average. A record total of 253 Nittany Lion students posted at least a 3.5 GPA last fall to garner Dean’s List honors (minimum 12 credits).
Starting with the 2014 fall semester, Barbour’s first as Penn State AD, Penn State student-athletes have achieved the eight highest semesters all-time for the number of students earning at least a 3.0 GPA.
In November 2017, the NCAA released its annual national graduation rates study, which revealed that Penn State student-athletes earned a school record-tying Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 90 percent, which is an increase of two points from the 2015 NCAA report. Nine Nittany Lion teams earned a perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rate, up from five squads in 2015.
Nearly 270 Graduates Since May 2017; Record 360 Academic All-Big Ten Honorees
A total of 267 Penn State student-athletes earned have earned their degrees since May, 2017, with 173 during the 2017 calendar year and 94 following the 2018 spring semester. A total of 15 Nittany Lions have earned CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades during Barbour’s tenure, boosting Penn State’s all-time total to 201, good for No. 4 nationally among Division I institutions. Five Nittany Lions were selected CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2016-17.
During the 2017-18 academic year, Nittany Lion students again shattered school records for Academic All-Big Ten honorees (3.0 GPA), with 360 recipients. Seasonal marks were set by student-athletes from the fall (117) and spring/at-large (166) sports and the spring/at-large total was a Penn State record for the sixth consecutive year.
Five NCAA Team Championships and 23 Conference Titles
During Barbour’s four years of leading Penn State Athletics, the Nittany Lions have captured a total of five NCAA Championships in women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and wrestling and won 18 Big Ten titles and five EIVA crowns for a total of 23 conference championships.
The Nittany Lions won their third consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship and captured three Big Ten crowns or tournament titles in 2017-18 in wrestling, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball. A total of 21 Penn State squads participated in their respective NCAA Championship or a bowl game (Fiesta Bowl Champions) in 2017-18 and Zain Retherford won the Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top wrestler for the second consecutive year.
A total of 20 Penn student-athletes have won NCAA individual national championships since 2014-15, including a combined total of 13 the past two years from four different sports. In 2017-18, seven Nittany Lions were crowned NCAA individual champions in wrestling, men’s track and field and men’s gymnastics. A total of 11 Nittany Lions won Big Ten individual titles this past year.
Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the Learfield Directors’ Cup in the final fall 2017 and winter 2018 standings and has earned a pair of Top 10 finishes (three in Top 15) in the final standings under Barbour’s direction, including No. 8 in 2016-17. Penn State Athletics also was ranked No. 9 among the nation’s 65 Autonomy Five institutions in 2017-18, according to Yahoo! Sports.
More than 6,000 Hours of Community Engagement with 40-Plus Organizations
In addition to their academic and athletic achievements, student-athletes have helped support Penn State’s comprehensive excellence by combining to spend more than 6,200 hours involved in community engagement in 2016-17. Nittany Lion students annually participate in community engagement with more than 40 organizations.
A former student-athlete and graduate of Wake Forest University, Barbour is a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. In 2017, she was selected as one of the inaugural members of the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Collegiate Advisory Council. The CAC is charged with bridging the gap between high-contributing collegiate stakeholders and the Olympic Movement.
Happy Valley Jam and NHL Pre-season Games Among Initiatives
Barbour has overseen the additional utilization of ICA’s physical assets, resulting in the first NHL pre-season game in Pegula Ice Arena and the initial concert in Beaver Stadium – the Happy Valley Jam, featuring Blake Shelton, in July 2017. A second NHL pre-season contest, featuring the Buffalo Sabres against the Pittsburgh Penguins, occurred in September 2017 in a sold-out Pegula Ice Arena.
Personal Pride in New Morgan Academic Center
The first facility project completed under Barbour’s direction is one she is particularly proud of -- the conversion of the Greenberg Sports Complex to a new Morgan Academic Center. Advising, tutoring, computer labs, group study areas and meeting rooms for student-athletes previously were located in four separate locations on campus.
The 2016 completion of the MAC provided a central and expanded academic and student welfare hub for Penn State’s 800 student-athletes and will assist in keeping academic services and the academic performance of Nittany Lion student-athletes at the forefront among the nation’s premier Division I institutions.
Early in her tenure at Penn State, Barbour made a gift of $100,000 for the Morgan Academic Center project, with a portion of her donation used to create a One Button production studio where students can record a speech or presentation and review it prior to delivering in class.
Recognized by Forbes Among Top Executives in Sports
Forbes has recognized Barbour twice in recent years among the top executives in sports. In April 2018, Barbour was selected No. 13 among the Most Powerful Women in Sports. She was among four executives listed who work primarily in intercollegiate athletics and was the highest ranked Athletic Director -- No. 2 overall in college sports.
In December 2015, Forbes named Barbour one of the Top 25 Most Powerful People in College Sports, ranking among six Athletic Directors and two female administrators on the list. Forbes said that Barbour "has developed a reputation for being one of the most forward-thinking administrators in all of college sports."
Record-Setting Academic Achievements and Seven Big Ten Titles in 2016-17
The NCAA reported in May 2017 that 18 Penn State squads earned perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores of 1,000 in 2015-16, up from 13 the previous year. A school record 114 student-athletes graduated following the 2017 spring semester.
Under Barbour’s leadership, a then-school record 299 student-athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten accolades in 2015-16, with the mark tied in 2016-17. Five student-athletes were selected CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2016-17. During the 2017 spring semester, a school 66 percent of NIttany Lion students earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average.
The Nittany Lions won seven Big Ten Championships or tournament titles in seven sports in 2016-17, the most of any Conference institution. Penn State’s seven Big Ten Championships were the third-highest total in school history. The Nittany Lions won nine conference titles overall, as the men’s volleyball team won the EIVA regular season and tournament titles.
Penn State captured its second consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship and won Big Ten titles in field hockey, football, women’s soccer, women’s indoor track and field, wrestling (regular season), men’s hockey and men’s outdoor track and field in 2016-17. The Nittany Lion football team won its first Big Ten title since 2008 in its initial appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game, rallying from a 28-7 deficit to beat in a 38-31 thriller and earn a berth in the Rose Bowl.
Nittany Lion student-athletes won six NCAA individual national championships and 13 Big Ten individual crowns in 2016-17 and Zain Retherford won the Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top wrestler. A total of 22 Penn State squads participated in their respective NCAA Championship or bowl game.
Penn State placed No. 8 in the final Learfield Directors’ Cup standings for 2016-17, earning its second Top 10 finish under Barbour and fourth in the past five years.
Pair of NCAA Championships and Five Big Ten Crowns Highlight 2015-16
Barbour saw the Nittany Lions capture NCAA Championships in women’s soccer and wrestling and five Big Ten titles in women’s cross country, women’s soccer and wrestling in 2015-16. The women’s lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the first time since 1999 and was among six Nittany Lion programs that finished No. 6 nationally or higher in their respective NCAA Championship.
Penn State student-athletes won four NCAA individual national championships and seven Big Ten individual crowns in 2015-16 and Raquel Rodriguez earned the MAC Hermann Trophy as collegiate soccer’s top female player. Penn State finished No. 20 in the 2015-16 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, 18 Nittany Lion squads competed in their respective NCAA Championships and the football team played in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
During the 2015 fall semester, a then-school record 516 Nittany Lions earned at least a 3.0 grade-point average, breaking the mark of 500 set the previous fall semester.
NCAA Championship and Three Big Ten Crowns Highlight 2014-15
Barbour began her tenure in Happy Valley with a pair of championships during the 2014 fall semester and two more titles in the spring. The women’s volleyball team captured its second consecutive NCAA Championship and the women’s soccer squad earned the Big Ten crown during the fall. In the spring, the men’s gymnastics team captured the Big Ten title in front of an enthusiastic Rec Hall crowd, the women’s lacrosse squad won the inaugural Big Ten Women’s Lacrosse Tournament and the men’s volleyball captured the EIVA regular season and tournament titles.
Penn State finished No. 8 in the 2014-15 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings to cap Barbour’s first year. Twenty Nittany Lion squads competed in their respective NCAA Championships, the football team won the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, and 30 teams participated in post-season competition. Nine Penn State teams advanced to or finished in the Top/Elite 8 of their respective NCAA Championship in 2014-15. The Nittany Lions also captured individual NCAA titles in men’s fencing, men’s gymnastics and wrestling.
The 2014-15 academic year was punctuated with the selection of wrestling national champion Matt Brown as the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for all sports.
Ten Years Leading Cal Athletics to Consistent Comprehensive Excellence
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. Under her direction, the athletic department became one of the consistently elite programs in the country. Barbour’s 10-year term as AD was the longest tenure for the department since men’s and women’s athletics merged into a single entity in 1992.
During her tenure overseeing Cal’s 30-sport program, the Golden Bears won 20 team national championships, 97 individual national titles, finished in the top 10 in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup standings six times, including a program-best third in 2011, and reached record levels in ticket sales, sponsorships and fundraising.
Among Cal's many team athletic accomplishments under Barbour’s leadership were a 2006 Pac-12 co-championship and seven bowl game invitations in football; the men's basketball team's first conference title in 50 years in 2009-10; a first-ever NCAA Final Four berth in women's basketball in 2013, two trips to the national semifinals in women’s volleyball and six NCAA Championships in men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
In 2013-14, Cal secured the largest field naming-rights deal in collegiate sports history at the time, when Kabam, a technology company, signed on to name Kabam Field at California Memorial Stadium.
Named one of the "100 Most Influential Women in Business" in the Bay Area according to the San Francisco Business Times, NACDA named Barbour a regional Athletic Director of the Year for 2008-09 and she was a finalist for National AD of the Year at the Sports Business Awards. She also was recognized as the 2006 National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Division I-A National Administrator of the Year.
Prior to her tenure at Berkeley, Barbour was the deputy director of athletics at Notre Dame, serving as the university's senior athletic administrator from July 2002 to September 2004. She previously held an associate athletic director position there starting in 2000.
In her position at Notre Dame, Barbour oversaw facilities and event operations for the school's 26-sport program, including football game management and the department's two golf courses. She was also responsible for developing, maintaining and implementing Notre Dame's $127 million athletics facilities master plan.
In 1996, Barbour was appointed Tulane's director of athletics at age 36, and during her three years overseeing the program, Green Wave teams won 12 conference championships. In her first year in the position, the school captured four conference titles, a feat never before accomplished in Tulane history. She also hired Tommy Bowden as head football coach during her first year. Bowden proceeded in 1997 to post the Green Wave's first winning season (7-4) in 16 years, and then directed the school to a 12-0 record, a Conference USA championship and a No. 7 national ranking the following season as the 1998 Liberty Bowl champions. Barbour was recruited to Tulane as an associate athletic director in 1991.
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 as well as 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 served as 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.
Between master's programs, Barbour served as assistant field hockey and lacrosse coach at Northwestern from 1982-84. She also held the position of director of recruiting services during that period, before being promoted to assistant athletic director for intercollegiate programs in 1984, a position she held until 1989.
Prior to joining Tulane, Barbour worked in programming and production for FOX Sports Net in Chicago during the summer of 1990.
The quote attributed to JFK was actually by RFK, originally from Gorge Bernard Shaw..You may want to add this to her bio...,
You mean that what he reported about her two masters degrees was wrong, one being an MBA from Northwestern? What about her awards from the NACDA, or the academic achievements of the PSU athletes? Again, you attack the messenger (Forbes-Belzer-Me) and not address the issue. It’s an obvious sign that you’ve lost the argument. Everyone but you two seems to recognize that.
Remember, PSU Raised $362 Million in donations last year!
Nit Wits (like NitWit and BlueBand
https://barryfenchak4trustee.wordpress.com/2019/02/13/financial-phone-in/
"she announced a reorganization of ICA that introduced a more vertical structure to encourage communication and collaboration across functional units and sports. Four administrative divisions were formed: student-athlete performance, health and welfare; internal and external operation, administration and business and finance"
As we know, "vertical structures" (i.e., bureaucracies) always "encourage communication and collaboration across functional units". She has an MBA?
I’m sure all the students in Smeal appreciate your denigration of an MBA. Yeah, this would go over real well on the BOT. Barry seems not to be pro-education.
