Vicky Chun /// Vice President and Director of Athletics /// Colgate University (DI)

Recognized by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal as a “Game Changer” in 2014, Victoria M. “Vicky” Chun ’91, MA ’94 has earned a stellar reputation nationally as one of the most enthusiastic, involved and well-respected administrators in intercollegiate athletics. After a national search, Chun was named Colgate University’s Director of Athletics and Associate Professor effective Jan. 1, 2013.

She was promoted to Vice President and Director of Athletics in July 2015.

Chun is the only female athletics director in the Patriot League. Among 345 Division I institutions, she is one of 29 (16 with the sport of football) women, and one of eight (four with sport of football) minority women, actively leading an NCAA Division I athletics department.

Chun is one of 40 members and the Patriot League's lone representative on the NCAA Division I Council, and also serves on the Division I Football Oversight Committee. In addition, she is on the Executive Board of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA), where she also chairs the Foundation Fund. In 2013, Chun was selected to the National Association of Collegiate Director of Athletics (NACDA) John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation Board. Most recently, Harvard University invited Chun to serve on the Harvard Board of Overseers' Committee to Visit the Department Athletics from 2014 to 2016.

Chun’s vision of academic excellence, success at the NCAA Division I level and commitment to the university have created positive changes and outcomes for the Raiders. During her tenure as director of athletics, the Raiders have won titles in football, men’s rowing, women's soccer and volleyball. In 2014, men’s ice hockey received an at-large selection to the NCAA Division I Championship tournament, earning a final national ranking of “lucky” No. 13.

Under Chun’s leadership, the academic accomplishments by Raiders student-athletes have been stellar, with a 98 percent graduation rate that ranks Colgate third in the nation. In addition, the most recent APR report had 21 out of 24 teams scoring a perfect score of 1,000. In 2014, 64 percent of the student-athletes received a GPA of 3.0 or higher, eight student-athletes received a 4.0 or higher, and 36 percent were named to the Dean’s List.

Chun’s efforts to create a first-class environment for student-athletes has come to fruition as the athletics department saw the completion and approval of several major renovations, the construction of a new soccer stadium and for the first time, the approval of new building structure.

In January 2013, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of the construction of a 97,000 square-foot athletic facility. The new facility will feature a state-of-the-art ice hockey rink, locker rooms for men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s soccer. It will also house a training room, meeting space, office suites, an equipment room, a VIP lounge and a private shooting space for the ice hockey programs. In addition, Chun oversaw the construction and completion of Beyer-Small ’76 Field, a state-of-the-art soccer facility with a FIFA 2-star certified FieldTurf. This facility, which consists of seating for 1,300 fans, TV-standard lighting, a fully-equipped press box and team rooms, opened in August 2014.

Since Chun assumed the director of athletics position, the department of athletics has seen a 200-percent increase in active athletic support groups; a 50-percent increase in former student-athlete giving; and a 21-percent increase in donor giving. In addition, there has been a 100-percent giving rate from all head and assistant coaches and administrators within the Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics Division.

Under Chun’s direction of giving back to the community, Colgate student-athletes raised over $30,000 toward various not-for-profit organizations (Play for Kay, Alzheimer's Awareness, ALS, Autism Awareness and the Cure for Ependymoma). Colgate also has received positive national recognition by being the only college to televise a men’s basketball game celebrating the LGTBQ community.

On campus, Chun serves on the President’s staff, the Colgate Disciplinary Conduct Board, the Advisory and Planning Committee, and is chair of the Faculty Affirmative Action Oversight Committee.

Chun earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate in 1991 (double major: Political Science and Education) and Masters of Arts degree in 1994 (History). As an undergraduate, Chun was a four-year letterwinner and two-year captain on the Raider volleyball team. She was named Patriot League Player of the Year in 1991, an ECAC Merit Medal winner and a member of the Patriot League All-Decade team.

She went on to serve as head coach from 1994-97, posting a 67-27 record and guiding her squad to two conference championships and Colgate’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth. Chun was named the 1996 Patriot League Coach of the Year.

She remains the only person in NCAA Division I history to earn both player and coach of the year in the same conference, as well as the only person to win conference championships in those two roles.

During her coaching tenure, she coached eight All-Patriot League selections, a Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, a Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, a Patriot League Rookie of the Year and two Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Players.

Chun has been featured in the NCAA’s “Champions” magazine and is a frequent contributor to sports publications. She is an in-demand speaker on topics including leadership in sport, organizational dynamics, diversity and inclusion, and teamwork. In 2010, Chun successfully completed the NCAA Fellows Program; in 2011, she graduated from the NACWAA Executive Institute.