NC State Wolfpack

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Lee Fowler, Director of Athletics
After six years, his scorecard is impressive -Providing vision, consistent leadership, and a focus on priorities.

September 5, 2000 signaled a new era of athletic excellence for NC State. That was the day Lee G. Fowler was introduced to the media as the new Director of Athletics. The most critical need would become his major priority-to restore NC State's athletics facilities to a level of excellence enjoyed by the top programs in America.

The Plan: Fowler brought experience and professional leadership; and most importantly, he understood that only through teamwork and the support of the university's administration would he be able to meet the huge challenges of his plan. That plan was an unprecedented 6-year, $120 million building campaign. That meant not just raising the funding in that time-frame, but also completing the construction and renovation of facilities.

An ambitious goal? Without question. An aggressive goal? Definitely. But was it doable? And secondly, was it doable while still meeting the day to day challenges of running a department with nearly 200 coaches and staff, and 550 plus student-athletes, while meeting a rising annual operating budget of $35-$40 million.

The Results: Amazingly, after six years of determination and tireless effort, Lee Fowler does, in fact, have the Wolfpack facilities among the nation's elite. And for that he thanks the University administration, the fans, and the thousands of Wolfpack Club members who gave their loyal support to make the plan a reality. While new facilities will always be needed, only one master plan project is still in progress-the $5 million softball-soccer-track complex on campus, scheduled for completion in 2007.

The face of NC State athletics has changed dramatically in the past six years. And it's not only the high visibility sports that have benefited. Improvements include: state of the art academic support and study centers and increased academic support staffing, a newly renovated Case Athletic Academic Center, multiple strength training facilities, new locker rooms, multiple sports medicine facilities, student-athlete lounge areas, expanded support services include video, marketing, media relations, and student-athlete development. The icing on the cake is that top-quality competition venues now exist for virtually all of the 23 men's and women's sports.

Aspirations: Known as a "hands-on" director, the 54-year-old Fowler is committed to success in all sports. "I want all of our teams to aspire to the Top 25 and to compete for the top tier of the ACC and for championships. Chancellor Oblinger often says that NC State aspires to excellence across the board and we are included in that vision." Fowler's management approach is to provide the tools, resources and support that the coaches need to succeed, then expect quality programs and positive results. It seems to be effective as in 2005-06 all spring sports participated in NCAA postseason tournaments for the first time in school history. And 17 of the 23 sports qualified for postseason play. (See Team Honors chart).

Ticket Sales and Fundraising: Ticket sales, attendance and fundraising totals are a good barometer of an athletic program's financial health. Bolstered by the sale of Lifetime Seat Rights and effective marketing, these totals have grown dramatically during Fowler's tenure (see chart below).

Football has sold out all of its season ticket inventory the past three years. Men's basketball sales have exceeded a record $5 million the past three years. Atten-dance has been in the Top 20 nationally and improved to a No. 15 ranking for 2005-06.

Wolfpack Club annual giving has set records each year, at the same time the WPC was raising nearly $100 million to fund new facilities.

Gender Equity: Fowler's objective has been to exceed, not just meet, the requirements of Title IX. He has provided the maximum allowable scholarships for all sports, as well as major upgrades to women's sports facilities.

Partnerships: He has made it a priority to create effective partnerships with Chancellor James Oblinger, his executive officers team, the administration and faculty, and student body. Those partnerships have fostered a spirit of unity which is vital to the joint missions of the university and NC State athletics.

Academics: NC State has been a leader in the number of ACC post-graduate scholarship awards won, and student-athletes continue to achieve graduation rates and overall grade point averages comparable to the general student body. Fowler continues to increase funding for the Academic Support Program as part of a priority commitment to the academic success of the student-athletes.

Service: In 2002, Fowler chaired the prestigious NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee after serving on the committee since 1997. He was named Time.com's Person of the Week in March of 2002. Fowler now chairs the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Issues Committee and also serves on various ACC committees.

Other activities keep him busy, such as the annual Lee Fowler Charity Golf Classic, which benefits the Jim 'Catfish' Hunter chapter of the ALS Foundation (which fights Lou Gehrig's disease).

Fowler also co-hosts a half-hour weekly television show from April through August, "Inside Wolfpack Sports," which airs Saturdays at noon on WRAZ-Fox 50 in Raleigh and on selected cable systems statewide.

The Fowler Family: A native of Columbia, Tenn., Fowler is married to the former Carol Murray of St. Clair Shores, Michigan. The couple has three daugh-ters, Ashley (27), Kristin Leigh (21) and Carlee (17).

Ashley, married to Trevor Giles, earned a master's degree from MTSU and works as a pharmaceutical sales representative for GlaxoSmithKline. Kristin is a senior at NC State. Carlee is a senior at Broughton High School where she plays volleyball and is an accomplished guitarist.