Dec. 4, 2017 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.ââ'¬" Penn State Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour will be among the speakers in the opening panel at this week's prestigious Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, sponsored by the Sports Business Journal. The Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum is being held Dec. 6-7 in New York City.
Barbour will be among five athletic directors participating in the forum's lead off panel on Wednesday, Dec. 6, titled: "What's Keeping You Up at Night: A View from the AD Chair." Scheduled to join Barbour on the panel are: Jennifer Cohen (Washington), Bubba Cunningham (North Carolina), Rick Hart (SMU) and Lee Reed (Georgetown). John Ourand, the Sports Business Journal's media reporter, is the panel's moderator.
Leader of Premier Athletic Department in Academic, Athletic and Community Achievement
Barbour directs one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs that boasts an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 90 percent, winning 77 national championships and 106 Big Ten titles all-time. She oversees broad-based program that supports approximately 800 student-athletes in 31 sports (16 men's/15 women's) and an Intercollegiate Athletics staff of approximately 300 whose daily mission is preparing students for a lifetime of impact. Penn State's 31 programs are tied for fourth-highest among all 130 FBS institutions.
In June 2017, Barbour was recognized with the Under Armour AD of the Year Award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). She was among four Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Athletic Directors to receive the honor.
Earlier this fall, Barbour was selected as one of the inaugural members of the United States Olympic Committee's Collegiate Advisory Council. The CAC is charged with bridging the gap between high-contributing collegiate stakeholders and the Olympic Movement.
Penn State student-athletes broke several academic records in 2016-17, including earning a 3.14 combined grade-point average during the spring semester. A school record 66 percent of all active student-athletes earned at least a 3.0 GPA last spring. A total of 159 Nittany Lion students earned their degrees last year, including 114 in May, a school record in the spring semester. Penn State student-athletes participated in more than 6,200 hours of community engagement last year.
During Barbour's tenure, the Nittany Lions have won 17 Big Ten titles and five EIVA crowns for a total of 22 conference championships. Penn State has also captured four NCAA Championships in women's soccer, women's volleyball and wrestling since Barbour arrived in Happy Valley in August, 2014.
Under Barbour's leadership, Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics was ranked No. 8 among the nation's 65 Autonomy Five institutions in 2016-17, according to Yahoo! Sports. The Nittany Lions won the NCAA Wrestling Championship, seven Big Ten titles and two EIVA crowns last year. Penn State has finished in the Directors' Cup Top 10 four times in the past five years (No. 8 in 2016-17) and is one of only nine programs nationwide to have finished in the Top 25 in all 24 Learfield Directors' Cup final standings.
The Nittany Lions have started the 2017-18 academic year in strong fashion, with two Big Ten Championships and five teams ranked in the Top 10. The No. 1 ranked women's volleyball team won the Big Ten title and will host an NCAA Regional this weekend in Rec Hall. The women's soccer team won the Big Ten Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals, falling at top-seeded Stanford.
Also this fall, the Nittany Lion football team was ranked No. 9 in the final College Football Playoff rankings and will face Washington in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30. The field hockey team advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals, dropping a 4-3 decision to eventual champion UConn. Additionally, Penn State's two-time defending NCAA Wrestling Champions have won 35 consecutive dual meets and are ranked No. 1 nationally.