Sandy Barbour to retire as Penn State’s VP of athletics after 8 years in State College

Sandy Barbour, Penn State’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics, announced she will retire from the university this summer.

She was at the forefront of a modernization for Penn State, which included renovating the Lasch Football Building, transforming Penn State Lacrosse Field into Panzer Stadium, one of the top lacrosse stadiums in the country, and converting the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex into the Morgan Academic Center, a central academic building for student athletes.

During Barbour’s time at Penn State, its varsity teams won six NCAA championships and 39 conference championships over various sports.

However, football was an area that really benefited from Barbour’s time in State College.

In 2016, the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten championship, beating Wisconsin in the title game. The football team also appeared in seven bowl games during Barbour’s eight years, three of which were New Year’s Six bowl games.

One of Barbour’s final moves with Penn State came on the football front, too, when the university announced a 10-year, $70 million contract extension for head coach James Franklin in December.

In 2018, the men’s basketball team won the NIT, while the men’s hockey team appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2017 and 2018.

The Nittany Lions wrestling team has been one of the most dominant squads in the country over the last eight years, with Cael Sanderson’s squad winning five of the seven national championships.

Also, both women’s volleyball and women’s soccer teams hoisted national title trophies during Barbour’s tenure at Penn State.

The university doesn’t have an immediate replacement for Barbour but said in a release that it will conduct a “national search” and details will be “forthcoming.”