Pat Chun

Pat Chun (he/him/his)
Vice Chancellor, Intercollegiate Athletics
Director of Athletics
athletic.director@wsu.edu
509-335-0200

Tammy Small
Assistant to the Deputy Athletic Director
smallt@wsu.edu
509-335-0203

Since arriving in Pullman in January 2018, Washington State Director of Athletics Patrick Chun has overseen a transformation of Cougar Athletics, on and off of the field. From record student-athlete academic achievement to record-setting fundraising, from transformative facility projects to innovative student-welfare programming, Chun has had an immediate impact on WSU.

Upon his hiring, Chun became the 14th individual to lead Cougar athletics in school history and the first Asian-American athletic director to lead a Power 5 school. He also had another first in 2019, being named Under Armor Athletic Director of the Year, the first Cougar athletic director to receive the honor.

Under his leadership, Cougar programs have reached NCAA Championships in six sports, while student-athletes have collected 28 All-America certificates, 79 All-Conference, 461 Academic All-Conference selections and four conference champions.

Chun has instituted programs to benefit student-athlete welfare, including improvements to mental health awareness, as well as a commitment to diversity and inclusion initiatives, while working closely with WSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Black Student-Athlete Association. WSU’s commitment to mental health awareness, under initiatives led by Chun, resulted in WSU Athletics being awarded the Washington State Psychological Association’s Public Citizen Award in 2018. Additional accomplishments for Chun include the development of UNLEASH, a strategic plan for the advancement of WSU Athletics, while in July of 2020, he began a four-year term on the prestigious NCAA Division I Council, a high-level group responsible for the day-to-day decision-making for Division I. Chun also serves on the NCAA Division 1 Strategic Vision and Planning Committee as well as the NCAA Division 1 Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. Also in 2020, he was named co-chair for the newly formed Pac-12 ImPACt Leadership Council which serves as an advisory group for Social Justice & Anti-Racism within the conference. In March of 2021, Chun was named a 3rd Vice President for NACDA, assuming the role following the NACDA Convention in July 2021.

Most importantly, the academic performance of WSU student-athletes has set or tied program highs for cumulative GPA in each of the last five semesters entering the Fall of 2020, including a department record 3.35 semester GPA in the Spring of 2020. WSU also posted its highest Graduation Success Rate ever in 2018-19.

On the field of play, the Cougars have seen program-best performances from multiple sports. Football enters the 2020 season having gone to five-consecutive bowl games for the first time in school history, while women’s soccer reached the College Cup in 2019 for the first time. Women’s volleyball enters 2020 with four-straight NCAA appearances while men’s basketball in 2019-20 had its most wins since 2011-12 and won its Pac-12 Tournament opening round for the first time since 2009.

Additionally, his leadership has led to as revitalization of Cougar fundraising, setting all-time highs in annual giving and total donations since his arrival. WSU Athletics raised a record $7.6 million in annual fund donations and a record $15 million in overall contributions in his first year. WSU improved on both totals in 2018-19 and in 2019-20, WSU Athletics raised a program-record $26 million in overall giving. Prior to the 2019-20 academic year, WSU completed fundraising for a $10 million renovation of its baseball stadium, the first athletics facility at WSU funded completely by private donations and set for completion in October 2020.

Prior to WSU, Chun spent the prior five and a half years leading Florida Atlantic University athletics and the previous 15 years at Ohio State University in a multitude of roles from 1997 through 2012, culminating as the executive associate athletics director.

A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Chun earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University and a master’s degree from Duquesne University. He and his wife, Natalie, also an OSU alumna, have three daughters (Vanna, Kennedy and Gretta) who enjoy their dog (Little Brother).