Staff Directory
Patrick Chun
- Title:
- Director of Athletics
- Email:
Updated July 28, 2026
One of the nation’s foremost leaders in intercollegiate athletics and a former Under Armor Athletic Director of the Year, Patrick Chun, was appointed the 17th Director of Athletics at the University of Washington on March 26, 2024. Chun has the distinction of being the first Asian-American Power Four athletic director.
Since his arrival in Montlake, Chun has guided Washington to extraordinary success in several areas, including competitive success. The 2025-26 year was one of UW Athletics most successful, as the Huskies claimed national championships in men’s soccer and men’s rowing, marking just the third time in the modern era that the school has claimed multiple national championships in one academic year. Demonstrating the breadth of success under Chun, Washington earned the inaugural Big Ten Allstate Women’s Championship in 2026, recognizing UW for the success of its women’s sports programs, the top in the Big Ten Conference. Women’s rowing won its second consecutive Big Ten championship, women’s soccer claimed regular season and tournament championships, and women’s indoor track & field claiming five individual conference titles and three individual national championships.
This past year, UW boasted 40 All-Americans and 68 All-Big Ten Conference selections under the tutelage of four head coaches named as Big Ten and/or National Coach of the Year: men’s soccer’s Jamie Clark, women’s soccer’s Nicole Van Dyke, and rowing’s Yaz Farooq and Michael Callahan.
Also in 2025-26, UW student-athletes earned 344 Academic All-Conference accolades and ranked third among all Big Ten schools with a Graduation Success Rate of 94.
Among the past year’s major achievements, Chun led a renewed 10-year partnership agreement with Alaska Airlines that will continue Alaska’s naming rights to Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, with Alaska remaining the Official Airline for the University of Washington.
The 2024-25 year was historic for Washington as Chun and the Huskies completed their inaugural year in the Big Ten Conference. The year brought monumental change in college sports with the approval of the House Settlement in June 2025. In preparation for settlement approval, Chun was selected as one of just ten athletic directors nationwide to serve on the NCAA’s House Implementation Committee in December 2024. This distinguished group was tasked with developing a new operational model for college athletics in anticipation of the House Settlement's approval. The model launched the creation of the College Sports Commission (CSC), the NIL Go platform, College Athlete Payment System (CAPS), as well as new governance, enforcement, and rules.
The first year in the Big Ten Conference was historic on many levels. UW student-athletes recorded a school-record 3.46 GPA, with all 22 programs exceeding the 3.0 benchmark. The university celebrated 304 Academic All-Big Ten honors, more than half of its student-athlete population.
Washington also experienced a record year in fundraising, bringing in over $70 million. UW Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) also agreed to a landmark multimedia rights and sponsorship agreement with Learfield, tripling the previous contract's value and placing UW among Learfield’s top five national partnerships.
Athletically, 16 of UW’s 22 varsity teams advanced to postseason competition. The men’s rowing program won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship for the second straight year, and for the 21st time in program history. Women’s rowing claimed UW’s first Big Ten team championship. The UW enjoyed its most outstanding season in the history of women’s track & field, with both the indoor and outdoor teams finishing fourth nationally (both the highest in program history) and the combined cross country and track & field programs ranking second nationally.
Overall, UW student-athletes garnered four individual NCAA championships, nine Big Ten titles, 80 All-Big Ten Conference selections, with five major award winners as Big Ten Athlete or Freshman of the Year honors. Thirty-two student-athletes rose to All-America status.
The summer of 2024 coincided with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, where the UW was well-represented, with 27 athletes and four coaches representing seven countries and earning 15 medals. If the UW were a country, it would have ranked 16th globally in the Games’ medal table.
Before his appointment at Washington, Chun served in the same role at Washington State University for six years. At WSU, he oversaw historic successes both athletically and academically. In 2022, Chun was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he was named Under Armor Athletic Director of the Year.
Among the accomplishments at Washington State, Chun oversaw a dramatic shift in athletic fundraising. Prior to his arrival, WSU Athletics averaged $11 million in yearly fundraising. Over Chun’s final five years, the department increased its fundraising to an average of nearly $30 million annually, an improvement of almost threefold. Included in those figures are the completion of funding for a $10 million baseball operations center, a $27 million indoor practice facility, and a $9 million academic support center. Chun also secured WSU’s largest gift in school history to endow the Athletics Director position.
At WSU, the 2023-24 men’s basketball program earned its first bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in sixteen seasons and the women’s program claimed the school’s first-ever Pac-12 Championship in 2022-23. In 2018, the football team recorded the most victories in school history with an 11-2 record. Overall, 10 different WSU teams made postseason appearances, and the school won six Pac-12 championships.
Prior to his time at WSU, Chun led the Florida Atlantic University athletics program for five-plus years, beginning in 2012. During his time in Boca Raton, Chun oversaw multiple individual and team championships, numerous national and conference awards, raised the department-wide GPA to a new high, and set a record for fundraising, including the largest gift in school history at $16 million. In 2014, Chun led the creation of the Boca Raton Bowl through a partnership with ESPN Events.
Chun’s athletics administration career began at his alma mater, The Ohio State University, where he held numerous roles from 1996 to 2012, starting as a student employee and ultimately serving as Executive Associate Athletics Director. At Ohio State, working under legendary athletic directors Gene Smith and Andy Geiger, Chun spent the majority of his tenure in development and revenue generation.
Chun is a native of Strongsville, Ohio, and earned a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University and a master's degree from Duquesne University. His wife, Natalie, is also an Ohio State alumnus, and together, they have three daughters.
Pat Chun Committee Work
• House Implementation Committee (2024 to present)
• NCAA Division I Council (2020 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I Strategic Planning and Vision Committee (2020 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I NIL Working Group (2023 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I Transformation Committee (2022)
o Chair, Subcommittee on Governance and Decision Making
• NCAA Constitution Committee (2021)
• NCAA Division I Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (2020 to 2022)
• LEAD1 Association, Board of Directors (2023 to 2024)
• President, NACDA (2023-24)
• Member, Executive Committee, NACDA (2016 to 2020)
• NACDA John McClendon Minority Scholarship Foundation Steering Committee (2013 to 2016)
• National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) Executive Committee (2009 to 2012)
• NCAA Division I Baseball Rules Committee (2017 to 2018)
• Vice Chair, NCAA Division I Baseball Committee (2013 to 2016)
• Mentor, NCAA Pathway Program (2016 to Present)
LINKS:
One of the nation’s foremost leaders in intercollegiate athletics and a former Under Armor Athletic Director of the Year, Patrick Chun, was appointed the 17th Director of Athletics at the University of Washington on March 26, 2024. Chun has the distinction of being the first Asian-American Power Four athletic director.
Since his arrival in Montlake, Chun has guided Washington to extraordinary success in several areas, including competitive success. The 2025-26 year was one of UW Athletics most successful, as the Huskies claimed national championships in men’s soccer and men’s rowing, marking just the third time in the modern era that the school has claimed multiple national championships in one academic year. Demonstrating the breadth of success under Chun, Washington earned the inaugural Big Ten Allstate Women’s Championship in 2026, recognizing UW for the success of its women’s sports programs, the top in the Big Ten Conference. Women’s rowing won its second consecutive Big Ten championship, women’s soccer claimed regular season and tournament championships, and women’s indoor track & field claiming five individual conference titles and three individual national championships.
This past year, UW boasted 40 All-Americans and 68 All-Big Ten Conference selections under the tutelage of four head coaches named as Big Ten and/or National Coach of the Year: men’s soccer’s Jamie Clark, women’s soccer’s Nicole Van Dyke, and rowing’s Yaz Farooq and Michael Callahan.
Also in 2025-26, UW student-athletes earned 344 Academic All-Conference accolades and ranked third among all Big Ten schools with a Graduation Success Rate of 94.
Among the past year’s major achievements, Chun led a renewed 10-year partnership agreement with Alaska Airlines that will continue Alaska’s naming rights to Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, with Alaska remaining the Official Airline for the University of Washington.
The 2024-25 year was historic for Washington as Chun and the Huskies completed their inaugural year in the Big Ten Conference. The year brought monumental change in college sports with the approval of the House Settlement in June 2025. In preparation for settlement approval, Chun was selected as one of just ten athletic directors nationwide to serve on the NCAA’s House Implementation Committee in December 2024. This distinguished group was tasked with developing a new operational model for college athletics in anticipation of the House Settlement's approval. The model launched the creation of the College Sports Commission (CSC), the NIL Go platform, College Athlete Payment System (CAPS), as well as new governance, enforcement, and rules.
The first year in the Big Ten Conference was historic on many levels. UW student-athletes recorded a school-record 3.46 GPA, with all 22 programs exceeding the 3.0 benchmark. The university celebrated 304 Academic All-Big Ten honors, more than half of its student-athlete population.
Washington also experienced a record year in fundraising, bringing in over $70 million. UW Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) also agreed to a landmark multimedia rights and sponsorship agreement with Learfield, tripling the previous contract's value and placing UW among Learfield’s top five national partnerships.
Athletically, 16 of UW’s 22 varsity teams advanced to postseason competition. The men’s rowing program won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship for the second straight year, and for the 21st time in program history. Women’s rowing claimed UW’s first Big Ten team championship. The UW enjoyed its most outstanding season in the history of women’s track & field, with both the indoor and outdoor teams finishing fourth nationally (both the highest in program history) and the combined cross country and track & field programs ranking second nationally.
Overall, UW student-athletes garnered four individual NCAA championships, nine Big Ten titles, 80 All-Big Ten Conference selections, with five major award winners as Big Ten Athlete or Freshman of the Year honors. Thirty-two student-athletes rose to All-America status.
The summer of 2024 coincided with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France, where the UW was well-represented, with 27 athletes and four coaches representing seven countries and earning 15 medals. If the UW were a country, it would have ranked 16th globally in the Games’ medal table.
Before his appointment at Washington, Chun served in the same role at Washington State University for six years. At WSU, he oversaw historic successes both athletically and academically. In 2022, Chun was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame, and in 2018, he was named Under Armor Athletic Director of the Year.
Among the accomplishments at Washington State, Chun oversaw a dramatic shift in athletic fundraising. Prior to his arrival, WSU Athletics averaged $11 million in yearly fundraising. Over Chun’s final five years, the department increased its fundraising to an average of nearly $30 million annually, an improvement of almost threefold. Included in those figures are the completion of funding for a $10 million baseball operations center, a $27 million indoor practice facility, and a $9 million academic support center. Chun also secured WSU’s largest gift in school history to endow the Athletics Director position.
At WSU, the 2023-24 men’s basketball program earned its first bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in sixteen seasons and the women’s program claimed the school’s first-ever Pac-12 Championship in 2022-23. In 2018, the football team recorded the most victories in school history with an 11-2 record. Overall, 10 different WSU teams made postseason appearances, and the school won six Pac-12 championships.
Prior to his time at WSU, Chun led the Florida Atlantic University athletics program for five-plus years, beginning in 2012. During his time in Boca Raton, Chun oversaw multiple individual and team championships, numerous national and conference awards, raised the department-wide GPA to a new high, and set a record for fundraising, including the largest gift in school history at $16 million. In 2014, Chun led the creation of the Boca Raton Bowl through a partnership with ESPN Events.
Chun’s athletics administration career began at his alma mater, The Ohio State University, where he held numerous roles from 1996 to 2012, starting as a student employee and ultimately serving as Executive Associate Athletics Director. At Ohio State, working under legendary athletic directors Gene Smith and Andy Geiger, Chun spent the majority of his tenure in development and revenue generation.
Chun is a native of Strongsville, Ohio, and earned a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University and a master's degree from Duquesne University. His wife, Natalie, is also an Ohio State alumnus, and together, they have three daughters.
Pat Chun Committee Work
• House Implementation Committee (2024 to present)
• NCAA Division I Council (2020 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I Strategic Planning and Vision Committee (2020 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I NIL Working Group (2023 to 2024)
• NCAA Division I Transformation Committee (2022)
o Chair, Subcommittee on Governance and Decision Making
• NCAA Constitution Committee (2021)
• NCAA Division I Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (2020 to 2022)
• LEAD1 Association, Board of Directors (2023 to 2024)
• President, NACDA (2023-24)
• Member, Executive Committee, NACDA (2016 to 2020)
• NACDA John McClendon Minority Scholarship Foundation Steering Committee (2013 to 2016)
• National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD) Executive Committee (2009 to 2012)
• NCAA Division I Baseball Rules Committee (2017 to 2018)
• Vice Chair, NCAA Division I Baseball Committee (2013 to 2016)
• Mentor, NCAA Pathway Program (2016 to Present)
LINKS:
- Asian Hall of Fame Class (Video)
- Transformation Committee (Final Report)
- Constitution Committee Work (Resources)
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12
