LSU Gold
Position
Vice Chancellor And Director Of Athletics
Class
Redshirt

Joe Alleva continues to bring unprecedented national recognition to LSU as Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics, leading one of the country’s premier collegiate athletic programs. The success of LSU Athletics is a clear reflection of Alleva’s mission to prepare student-athletes to excel in competition, in the classroom and the community, and to build champions in life on and off the field of play.

Alleva’s strategic plan involves an unwavering investment in the future of LSU Athletics that will benefit the university for generations and create an enduring, impactful environment for student-athletes featuring the best in facilities, academic support and coaching staffs. His vision is focused upon maximizing the overall well-being of each LSU student-athlete and helping them to realize their full potential.

Alleva joined the LSU family on April 2, 2008 after an outstanding tenure as director of athletics at Duke University. He was named vice chancellor in 2009, marking the first time in LSU history the director of athletics has also held a vice chancellor position.

On the field of play, Alleva’s tenure was distinguished by a number of significant achievements, including five 10-win seasons and 105 total victories by the football team. The Tigers played in a bowl game in each of his 11 gridiron seasons, and LSU has finished in the Top 20 nine times in that period. LSU under Alleva’s leadership claimed the 2009 baseball national championship and four College World Series berths, the 2015 men’s golf national championship, two women’s basketball Sweet 16 appearances, six gymnastics Super Six berths, four softball College World Series appearances and 19 NCAA Top 5 finishes indoors and outdoors by the men’s and women’s track and field teams.

The Tigers in the past 11 seasons have earned 48 individual NCAA championships in the sports of men’s and women’s track and field, gymnastics, men’s golf, women’s golf and women’s tennis. LSU has captured 18 Southeastern Conference team championships, and the Tigers have won 124 individual SEC titles during Alleva’s term.

In the classroom, the most recent academic year marked the 10th straight in which LSU student-athletes broke the previous year’s graduation success rate record. LSU Athletics has seen a 31 percent increase in graduation success rates – now at an all-time high of more than 90%. The number places LSU among the best in the SEC. The remarkable climb reflects the priorities and resources the program places on academic performance along with its top-tier partnership with the LSU Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes.

LSU was also proud this year to celebrate the 2017-2018 SEC H. Boyd WcWhorter Scholar Athlete of the Year, Kelly Quinn from LSU Volleyball. Quinn was a Biology and Kinesiology/Pre-Med student who maintained a 4.063 grade point average. She is the sixth student-athlete from LSU to earn the award and just the second female from LSU.

Leading the way, Alleva also successfully managed the department’s finances and operations, making LSU one of the nation’s top 10 programs in revenue, profit, ticket sales and commitment to its student-athletes and athletic endeavors. LSU athletics engaged in an unprecedented financial relationship with the university during this time, contributing more than $50 million to the campus in less than five years. There is no other program in college athletics that has made such a financial investment in its university. LSU Athletics is proud to be one of the very few in the country that does not take student fees or taxpayer dollars. It is entirely self-funded.

The implementation under Alleva’s direction of the “Geaux Givers” community outreach program fosters a relationship between the local citizens and LSU student-athletes. The Tigers in 2017-18 logged 4,177 hours in community service work across 21 sports. They played an integral role in assisting victims of the devastating flood that struck the Baton Rouge area in August 2016, helping to provide relief, rebuilding and rebirth for the community.

Alleva also bolstered the L-Club program to connect with former student-athletes, and he instituted the thriving “Project Graduation” plan in which former student-athletes return to LSU to earn their degrees.

Alleva’s vision kept LSU among the nation’s leaders in facilities. Tiger Stadium has been undergoing a significant upgrade in its concessions and restroom facilities, and in 2017 the largest center-hung video board in college basketball was installed in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

In 2018, with the partnership and fundraising of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, LSU Athletics began extensive renovations of its Football Operations facility. The upgrades will feature a new state-of-the-art locker room, team room, offices, film rooms and training area.

A new nutrition center and cafeteria for all LSU student-athletes will also be built in the new football operations facility. The center will help ensure LSU student-athletes receive the very best in nutrition for peak performance and will be the most elite such facility in college football.

Alleva opened the expansion of the South End Zone of Tiger Stadium, continuing an effort to augment one of the most iconic venues in all of college sports. Since 2010, he executed an aggressive campaign to preserve and enhance the appearance of Tiger Stadium that has included the installation of new windows, lighting systems, gating systems, and championship plazas.

Alleva supervised major renovations to the University Club golf course, the indoor track facility, and the soccer stadium. A new indoor/outdoor tennis facility and the top gymnastics training center in college athletics were opened during his tenure.

In the spring of 2016, Alleva completed a five-year term on the prestigious NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee, an appointment cementing his reputation as one of the most respected athletic administrators in the country. He has been appointed to numerous national committees, including the Football Bowl Certification Committee, the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and several Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference committees.

Alleva, who earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Lehigh in 1975, was the quarterback of the football team and team captain in 1974. He also played on the baseball team and served as a graduate assistant football coach, earning an MBA in 1976.

He became director of athletics at Duke in 1998 and his historic tenure there propelled the university into the ranks of America’s top all-around collegiate programs. While at Duke, he played a key role in the Durham, N.C. sports scene. Alleva started Little League Baseball in Durham nearly 30 years ago, and also began the American Legion baseball program. He is a member of the North Carolina American Legion Hall of Fame, Suffern High School Hall of Fame and the Rockland County Hall of Fame.

Joe and his wife, Annie, have three children, J.D., Jeff, and Jenny, and six grandchildren.

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