Better Know A Boston College Athletic Director Candidate: Dr. M. Grace Calhoun

We move on to our third profile of our series, Dr. M. Grace Calhoun, the current athletic director at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Calhoun, who has a PhD in higher education administration from the University of Florida, has been at the head of the Penn athletic department for the past six years. You may remember her from such job searches as that one that got BC’s last AD hired by UCLA. (She was reportedly UCLA’s third choice)

Dr. Calhoun was previously the Director of Athletics at Loyola University Chicago where she orchestrated eight coaching changes including one at men’s basketball, who, you would probably recall, ended up doing pretty well. Dr. Calhoun also has experience from Indiana, Dartmouth, Florida and St. Francis.

Dr. Calhoun also created three scholastic programs through Penn Athletics, including one through the Wharton School of Business. Calhoun also doubled the size of the Penn endowment during her time there.

Dr. Calhoun was also named the chair of the NCAA Division I Council in 2019. She also was named the 2017 Division I FCS Administrator of the Year by the Women Leaders in College Sports, and the Athletic Director of the Year, Football Championship Subdivision by NACDA in 2019.

There’s a lot to like here. Dr. Calhoun has experience hiring a men’s basketball coach (to great success), and she’s a bonafide fundraiser.