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Pac-12 Conference

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of Champions

Pac-12 hires veteran college athletics administrator Lisa Peterson as Senior Associate Commissioner for Sports Management

Sep 22, 2022
University of Oregon

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 announced Thursday that Oregon Deputy Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Lisa Peterson has been named the Conference’s Senior Associate Commissioner for Sports Management. Peterson, who will report to Deputy Commissioner Teresa Gould and begin her duties with the Pac-12 on October 17, will serve on the Pac-12 Leadership Team and be responsible for the comprehensive management and oversight of the league’s 21 Olympic sports.

“We are ecstatic to be able to add someone of Lisa’s caliber to the Conference staff,” Gould said. “Not only did we hire a veteran administrator with all of the credentials we were looking for in this position, we also added a valued and beloved member of the Pac-12 family to our team. Her extensive experience will be a tremendous asset as the Conference continues to elevate its service to the membership across all sports and championships.”

“I am so thankful to Teresa Gould and George Kliavkoff for the chance to work for a Conference with a mission that aligns with my values,” Peterson said. “It is an incredible opportunity for me, both personally and professionally, and I am very excited to work closely with so many wonderful people and contribute to the continued success of the Pac-12. I am also extremely grateful for my time at the University of Oregon and to work for almost three decades with Rob Mullens, a tremendous leader and person who I admire and respect greatly.”  

Peterson joins the Conference following 11 years on the Senior Leadership Team at Oregon, which included supervision of a number of sports, including women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse, women’s soccer, softball, beach volleyball, women’s volleyball and acrobatics and tumbling, in addition to the administrative units of athletic medicine, information technology and student-athlete development.

Peterson was a member of the Pac-12 Council, the governing body tasked with creating policies and procedures for the league’s 21 Olympic sports and women’s basketball. She served on the Pac-12 ImPACt Leadership Council, the social outreach initiative for the conference, and was a member of the Pac-12 Diversity Mentorship Program Leadership Team for women’s volleyball. 

Peterson has also been engaged on numerous national committees, including as the chair of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Legislative Task Force, a group that brought new policies supporting national team athletes into adoption in January 2020. The current vice chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee, she previously served on the Division I Volleyball Committee from 2014-18 and chaired the group the final two years.

Peterson was on the Community and Inclusion Committee for UO Athletics, was the chief liaison with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was one of the leaders on all educational programs and conversations within the department and with student-athletes on the topic of social justice. She also served as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Oregon Athletics.

Last August, Peterson was honored by Sports Business Journal as part of its Game Changers Class of 2021, which recognized 50 women in sports for their leadership, innovation and impact throughout the industry.

Prior to joining the Ducks, Peterson spent nearly nine years at Kentucky, working as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations for one year, an Associate Athletic Director of Finance for four years and an Assistant Athletic Director of Business for three years. She also served as the Senior Woman Administrator in her final five years in Lexington. 

Before her time at UK, Peterson worked at Maryland for six years, ending her tenure as the Assistant Athletic Director for Business and Finance. She was at Miami (FL) as an Assistant Athletic Business Manager from 1995 to 1996. 

A 1994 graduate from St. John’s with a bachelor’s in business management, Peterson earned her master’s in business administration in 1998.