Heather Lyke

She was announced as the Director of Athletics for the University of Pittsburgh in March 2017[1] following the departure of Scott Barnes.

Under the leadership of Heather Lyke, Pitt Athletics is enjoying a remarkable and unmistakable ascension. The Panthers’ rising tide of success reached exciting heights during the 2022-23 year of competition, drawing national raves and accolades. Wrote Pat Forde for Sports Illustrated, “Pitt athletics, once one of the weakest links in the well-rounded ACC and all of the Power 5 conferences, has become a broad-based success story.”

Prophetically, upon her appointment as Pitt’s director of athletics in March 2017, Lyke passionately spoke of achieving “comprehensive excellence.” Pitt Athletics across the board, she said, would aspire high in every endeavor—athletically, academically and in the community. That lofty goal has now become a reality thanks to Lyke’s vision, unwavering commitment and good old-fashioned hard work.

National observers are taking notice of Lyke’s blueprint for Pitt success. The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) honored her as a 2023 Cushman & Wakefield AD of the Year Award recipient. She additionally was a finalist for the Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year award. The Panthers’ superlatives in 2022-23 were as plentiful as they were impressive. Among the highlights:

• Pitt achieved its highest point total ever in the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup with nine teams combining to score 469 points. The Panthers finished 52nd out of 298 Division I schools, placing them among the top 17% of the NCAA’s highest classification.

• Pitt was rated the ACC’s top athletic department and No. 13 nationally in the 2023 CBS Sports “Best in College Sports” rankings.

• Football defeated UCLA in the Sun Bowl and earned back-to-back Top 25 finishes for the first time since 1982-83.

• Volleyball advanced to its second consecutive Final Four, firmly establishing the program as a national power.

• Men’s soccer advanced to the College Cup for the second time in three seasons, also signaling its arrival as a national title contender.

• Women’s soccer made its first NCAA Tournament appearance and earned a Sweet 16 berth.

• Men’s basketball returned to March Madness, winning multiple NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 2009.

• Wrestler Nino Bonaccorsi won the NCAA 197-pound championship, becoming Pitt’s first individual wrestling national champion since 2008.

• Ilse Steigenga was a first team All-American in the indoor long jump, becoming the first Pitt woman to earn such stature in that event since 1999.

• For the first time in program history, Pitt had two runners qualify for NCAA Cross Country Championship. Jack Miller and Luke Henseler become the first Pitt male runners to qualify for the NCAA Championships overall since 1994.

• A record 343 Pitt student-athletes were named to the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll.

• Pitt Athletics ranked No. 5 among all NCAA schools in the 2022-23 HelperHelper Teamworks Challenge, which tracks student-athlete community service hours.

Each of these successes come as no surprise to those who have observed Lyke’s career. The first woman to hold the full-time director of athletics post at the University of Pittsburgh, her influence has been evident in the recruitment of nationally regarded head coaches, ambitious facility plans and a strengthened focus on the total student-athlete experience. Lyke’s leadership has been crucial for Pitt in a quickly changing collegiate athletics landscape. This has been especially evident in the realm of Name, Image, Likeness. Upon the new NCAA legislation taking effect, Lyke launched the Pitt NIL Program, an innovative initiative designed to equip Pitt’s student-athletes with the knowledge and resources necessary to maximize their personal brand, platform and opportunities.

Generating resources and support for Pitt Athletics has been a major priority for Lyke’s administration. Those efforts produced a record $67 million raised over the past two fiscal years. That total included a historic $20 million gift from 1997 alumnus Chris Bickell, the largest single donation in Pitt Athletics history.

Bickell’s gift was the latest monumental donation received during Lyke’s tenure. Previously, former Pitt All-American Aaron Donald, who now stars for the Los Angeles Rams, made a seven-figure financial commitment to the Pitt Football Championship Fund, the largest donation ever by a Pitt football letterman to the program.

Lyke’s state-of-the-art facilities plan—known as “Victory Heights”—continues to steam ahead with construction beginning on a $240 million sports performance center (that will serve 16 of Pitt’s 19 teams) and a 3,000-seat arena for gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling.

The Victory Heights vision began with a recently completed $16 million expansion of the Petersen Sports Complex. This included a third-floor addition featuring coaches office suites and conference rooms; the P.J. Dick, Trumbull, Lindy Paving Team Meeting Room with theatre-style seating; and the Bill and Sissy Lieberman Student-Athlete Lounge that features a 14-foot video wall, outdoor patio and communal spaces.

Future Victory Heights construction will include an eight-lane, 300-meter indoor track for the men's and women's programs as well as a band facility.

Lyke has presided over Pitt’s highly productive relationship with the top sports apparel company in the world, NIKE, which outfits each of the Panthers’ 19 athletics programs. She led a dynamic rebrand of Pitt’s athletic marks and logos in 2019 that simultaneously evoked the Panthers’ proud past while boldly anticipating the future. The rebrand continues to receive high praise not only among Pitt’s faithful but also from national observers.

From an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion standpoint, Pitt Athletics unveiled a five-year strategic plan—Panthers United—aimed at fostering an inclusive environment for its student-athletes, coaches and staff. The strategic plan includes five areas of focus: recruitment and hiring; retention, development and success; a culture of belonging; positively impacting the community; and raising awareness and celebrating Pitt Athletics' EDI efforts.

Lyke’s influence has not been limited to Pitt. She is an ACC representative on the NCAA Division I Council, a high-level group responsible for decision-making that shapes the future for all of Division I Athletics. She has been on the front lines of vital NCAA legislation geared to help student-athletes navigate this climate and beyond.

She also provides leadership for a number of prominent committees and professional organizations. Lyke is Chair of the ACC Director of Athletics group as well as the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee. She serves on the Executive Committee and as Board Chair for LEAD1, which represents the 131 athletic directors at the FBS level. Lyke additionally is on the NACDA Executive Committee and the board of directors for Women Leaders for College Sports, the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and P3R.

During the 50th anniversary year of Title IX, Lyke’s perspectives were highly sought from various national organizations and media outlets. She was a featured voice in the panel discussion “50 Years of Title IX in College Sports: Celebrating the History and Impact of Title IX and Discussing a Vision for the Future” held in Washington D.C.

From 2013-17, Lyke served as vice president and director of athletics at Eastern Michigan University. Prior to EMU, she was a senior ranking athletic administrator at Ohio State for 15 years. Lyke additionally held posts at the University of Cincinnati and with the NCAA.

Lyke found the beginning of her professional path during her days as a scholarship student-athlete at the University of Michigan, where she captained the Wolverines’ Big Ten champion softball team. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Michigan and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law.

At Eastern Michigan, Lyke oversaw a department that sponsored 21 varsity sports with more than 550 student-athletes. Her tenure witnessed high levels of achievement not only in the competitive arena but also academically and from a fundraising standpoint.

Eastern Michigan received the Excellence in Management Cup presented by Texas A&M's Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics. The “EM Cup” annually recognizes the athletic department that best maximizes fiscal resources through championship victories. EMU ranked No. 1 out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision schools for 2015-16.

EMU annually distinguished itself in the Mid-American Conference under Lyke’s watch. The Eagles captured 16 MAC team championships, garnered 17 MAC Coach of the Year awards and had nearly 400 MAC All-Academic honorees during her tenure. For the first time in school history, Eastern Michigan was honored with the MAC’s Cartwright Award for all-around athletic department excellence (2013-14) and the Jacoby Award for female athletic excellence (2014-15).

Lyke spearheaded numerous capital improvement projects for EMU Athletics. The highest profile was the installation of college football’s first gray Revolution Field Turf playing surface in 2014. Dubbed “The Factory” in honor of the region’s automobile industry history, the field was selected No. 2 among all colleges in a USA Today fan vote (behind only the University of Tennessee).

During her tenure at Eastern Michigan University, Lyke oversaw significant growth in the school's athletic programs thanks to a 51% increase in athletic donations. This increased funding was used for capital upgrades to athletic facilities. The school won seventeen MAC titles during her tenure. The football team made its first bowl appearance since 1987, with a 20–24 loss to Old Dominion in the 2019 Bahamas Bowl under head coach Chris Creighton.[2]

In 2014, Lyke became the first woman to chair the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committee. She additionally chaired the Mid-American Conference’s Cost of Attendance Task Force.

From 1998-2013, Lyke worked at Ohio State, where she was a member of the athletic department’s executive team and a lead figure in the development of the Buckeyes’ strategic plan. Lyke directly oversaw 10 of Ohio State’s 36 athletic programs and had oversight of all facets of the athletic councils involving budget, revenue generation, facilities and OSU's golf course operations.

She additionally supervised the Buckeyes' sport performance division, which included the strength and conditioning coaches, athletic training staff and sports medicine staff. Lyke also developed Ohio State's first student-athlete internship program, “Bucks Go Pro.”

During her Ohio State tenure, the Big Ten Network tapped her expertise as a color analyst for softball telecasts from 2009-13.

Lyke served at Cincinnati as the assistant athletic director for compliance as well as the senior woman administrator from 1996-98. She began her career at the NCAA as an intern in the enforcement and student-athlete reinstatement department from 1995-96.

Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, Lyke starred at GlenOak High School in volleyball, basketball and softball. She accepted a softball scholarship from Michigan, where she lettered four years as a first baseman and was an All-Academic Big Ten honoree. She was a two-time team captain and helped Michigan to the 1992 Big Ten championship.

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