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Judy MacLeod

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Judy MacLeod
Current position
TitleCommissioner
ConferenceConference USA
Biographical details
Alma materUniversity of Puget Sound, University of Tulsa
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1995–2005University of Tulsa (athletic director)
2006–2015Conference USA (executive associate commissioner)
2015–presentConference USA (commissioner)

Judith A. MacLeod[1] is an American sports administrator and the current commissioner of Conference USA. She previously served as the athletic director at the University of Tulsa. MacLeod is the first woman to commission a conference in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

Biography

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MacLeod was born to parents Scottish American Kenneth A. MacLeod (father)[2] and Wilma Couchman (mother): a secretary for both Bumble Bee Foods and the Sons of Norway's Everett, Washington chapter[3][4][5], and has an older sister named Kim.[6][7] MacLeod grew up in Edmonds, Washington[8][7][1] and went to Meadowdale High School (Washington). MacLeod played forward[9] and center[10][11] on the high school's girl's basketball team from 1980-1982, and also played volleyball and softball (as first baseman).[12][13] MacLeod earned Second Team, East Division Honors in her junior season.[14] In MacLeod's senior season, she was the team captain[15] and earned all-league 3A honorable mention honors in both basketball[16] and softball[17]. MacLeod graduated from Meadowdale High School as a salutatorian in 1982.[1]

MacLeod attended the University of Puget Sound as an undergraduate, where she played on the school's basketball team. After graduating, she spent four seasons as an assistant basketball coach at Seattle University. She also worked as a sports manager at the 1990 Goodwill Games, which inspired her to pursue a career in sports management. She became a graduate assistant at The University of Tulsa the same year. After working in various positions for the university's athletic department, she became its athletic director in 1995, a position she held for the next ten years. During MacLeod's tenure as athletic director, Tulsa built the Reynolds Center and several other new athletic facilities, and it moved its sports teams into the Western Athletic Conference and later into Conference USA.[18][19]

In 2005, MacLeod left Tulsa to become an associate commissioner of Conference USA. She was promoted to executive associate commissioner the following year. While serving in that position, she was also a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 2012 to 2015. After Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky left his position in 2015, MacLeod was named the conference's new commissioner. She was the first and is so far the only woman to lead an FBS conference.[19][20]

When MacLeod became commissioner, the conference had recently lost several teams to conference realignment, and its revenue from media rights had declined considerably. MacLeod signed several short-term contracts with streaming platforms to stabilize the conference's media revenue, but by 2019 the conference made $450,000 from its media rights, less than half of the $1.1 million it had made before realignment.[21][22] After three schools left the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in 2021, MacLeod proposed that Conference USA merge with the AAC and reorganize into two geographically compact conferences.[23] The AAC rejected the proposal and instead invited six Conference USA schools to replace the three departing schools, sparking an exodus that left Conference USA with fewer than the required eight members needed to maintain its FBS status.[24] C-USA would soon restore its membership to the needed level to maintain FBS status. First, four schools were announced as new members effective in 2023–24—FBS independents Liberty and New Mexico State (respectively full members of the ASUN Conference and WAC) and FCS upgraders Jacksonville State and Sam Houston.[25] Another FCS upgrader, Kennesaw State, will join for 2024–25.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Meadowdale High School". No. 159. Everett, Washington. May 28, 1982. p. 6D – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "Betty MacLeod Hegge". obituaries.seattletimes.com. Seattle, Washington: The Seattle Times. September 6, 2020. Retrieved 2025-05-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Lodge installs new officers, trustees". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. February 4, 2010. p. B3 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Normanna to install officers". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. January 10, 1973. p. 4D – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ "Beck to head Norway lodge". The Daily Herald. No. 10. Everett, Washington. January 12, 1972. p. 8B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ "Wilma C. MacLeod". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. June 9, 2019. p. B7 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b "Top seniors honored". The Daily Herald. No. 98. Lynwood, Washington. April 24, 1979. p. 7A – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Students of the month". The Daily Herald. No. 147. Lynwood, Washington. June 21, 1978. p. 10A – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "MacLeod does it all down stretch for Chiefs". The Daily Herald. No. 7. Everett, Washington. January 8, 1981. p. 2B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "South Whidbey girls romp, 52-22". The Daily Herald. No. 323. Everett, Washington. December 5, 1981. p. 2B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ "Aardahl's 22 helps Woodway nudge Everett". The Daily Herald. No. 326. Everett, Washington. December 8, 1981. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Applause". The Daily Herald. No. 326. Everett, Washington. December 10, 1981. p. 12D – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Enbysk, Monte (March 11, 1982). "Changes move softball powers around". The Daily Herald. No. 81. Everett, Washington. p. 4B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ "Tipton, Durkee named all-league". Whidbey News-Times. Vol. 89, no. 22. Oak Harbor, Washington. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "Anacortes girls upset Burlington, tighten NWL race". The Daily Herald. No. 32. Everett, Washington. January 19, 1982. p. 3B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Preps All-Wesco teams". The Daily Herald. No. 73. Everett, Washington. March 3, 1982. p. 5B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "All-Wesco Team". The Daily Herald. No. 178. Everett, Washington. June 16, 1982. p. 5B – via Newspapers.com.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "From There to Here: Judy MacLeod". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Judy MacLeod". Women Leaders in College Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  20. ^ "Judy MacLeod". Conference USA. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  21. ^ Minium, Harry (July 25, 2016). "It's been a challenging first year for C-USA commissioner Judy MacLeod". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  22. ^ Miller, Ed (July 17, 2019). "As another football season looms, just where do things stand in Conference USA?". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  23. ^ Dellenger, Ross (October 12, 2021). "Sources: C-USA Asks AAC to Consider a Reorganizing of Both Conferences". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  24. ^ Dodd, Dennis (November 3, 2021). "Conference USA adding four teams but seeking one more after being gutted during realignment". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  25. ^ "Conference USA Adds Four Members" (Press release). Conference USA. November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  26. ^ "C-USA Adds Kennesaw State, Owls to Join in 2024" (Press release). Conference USA. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
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