The Penn State athletic department announced on Tuesday afternoon that Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour will be retiring this upcoming summer. Her contract with the university was set to expire following the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
Barbour will be ending a 40-year career in collegiate administration dating back to her time at Northwestern from 1982 to 1984 as a director of recruiting services. She also spent time at Tulane (1991-1999), Notre Dame (2000-2004), and Cal (2004-2014). Serving as an athletic director both at Tulane from 1996 to 1999 and in California for her entire tenure. Barbour joined Penn State in 2014, taking over for David Joyner who was the athletic director from November 2011 till Barbour's take over in 2014.
On top of her work as Penn State's athletic director, Barbour has also served on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee where she has served as the chair of the committee since September 2021.
In the press release from Penn State, Barbour released the following statement;
"These last eight years have been the most incredible and satisfying of my career. The passion, the commitment, and the purpose with which the Penn State community pursues excellence is like nothing I've ever experienced, and I am honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to serve Penn State students, coaches, faculty, staff, and our incredible community," Barbour said in the press release. "Thanks to Penn State, I've had the opportunity to develop amazing relationships, work with the best coaches and staff in all of the college sports, and most importantly, be surrounded by the most remarkable student-athletes in the country. Penn State and the Happy Valley community have captured my heart and will always hold a treasured place."
With Barbour's departure, Penn State will begin their search for the next athletic director though the university has not announced the plans for the search yet. One thing to watch for in that search is; will the search be led by current president Eric J. Barron or will incoming president Neeli Bendapudi who is set to take over for Barron this spring as Barron will retire following this school year as well.
