Sandy Barbour, who provided oversight for seven of Penn State’s top 10 fundraising years off the field and numerous championships on it, announced plans Wednesday to retire this summer as the school’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics.

Barbour was hired as Penn State’s ninth athletic director in 2014 before assuming her current position in 2019. She will retire after 40 years as a collegiate administrator and coach at several universities, including California, Berkeley; Notre Dame, Tulane and Northwestern.

Her responsibilities at Penn State include managing the ICA budget, 31 varsity sports, more than 800 student-athletes and a staff of 340.

“We are incredibly grateful for Sandy’s leadership and dedication to Penn State’s athletics program, student-athletes, coaches and staff, and fans across the commonwealth and beyond,” Penn State President Eric J. Barron said in a statement. “It’s been an honor to work with her.

“Through her forward thinking, competitive spirit, and passion for people and sports, Sandy has built a collegiate model to aspire to and has helped the Nittany Lions thrive as one of the nation’s most successful athletics departments. Above all, her commitment to supporting our student-athletes is commendable and will have a lasting impact on their lives both on and off the field.”

Under her guidance, the Nittany Lions have captured six NCAA championships in women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and wrestling; one men’s basketball NIT title and 39 conference championships, including 31 in the Big Ten. A total of 34 Penn State student-athletes have won individual NCAA championships during her tenure.

Among her efforts to modernize campus facilities were renovations of the former Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex and Lasch Football Building, plus transformation of the Penn State Lacrosse Field into Panzer Stadium.

“These last eight years have been the most incredible and satisfying of my career,” Barbour said in a statement. “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.

“Penn State and the Happy Valley community have captured my heart and will always hold a treasured place. I owe a special thank you to President Barron for the invitation to join the Penn State community in 2014, and for his partnership, counsel and friendship over our time together.”

Prior to coming to Penn State, Barbour was athletic director for nearly 10 years at California, Berkeley, where the Golden Bears produced 20 national team titles, reached record ticket sales and fundraising, and built a state-of-the-art athletic performance center.

Barbour, who is from Annapolis, Md., began her career in 1981 as an assistant field hockey coach and lacrosse administrative assistant at Massachusetts. Over the years, she went on to serve as assistant athletic director at Northwestern, associate athletic director and director of athletics at Tulane, and senior associate athletic director and deputy director of athletics at Notre Dame.

Barbour serves as the 2021-22 chair of the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee and represents the Big Ten Conference on the NCAA Division I Council. In 2017, she was selected as an inaugural member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Collegiate Advisory Council to identify solutions to support Olympic and Paralympic varsity programming opportunities within college sports.

Earlier this week, she was named one of five finalists for the Sports Business Journal’s prestigious Athletic Director of the Year for the third time in her career and second time at Penn State (2009 and 2018).

Barbour graduated cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in physical education from Wake Forest, where she served as captain of the field hockey team and played two varsity seasons of women’s basketball. She also holds a master’s degree in sports management from Massachusetts and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Penn State plans to conduct a national search for Barbour’s replacement.

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