Lawrence R. "Bubba" Cunningham (born May 12, 1962) is an American college athletics administrator. He was named

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

for the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

in 2011. He was previously athletic director for

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

from 2002 to 2005 and for the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

from 2005 to 2011.

Early life and education

Lawrence R. Cunningham was born in Flint, Michigan, and was later raised in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

, playing golf there and getting his bachelor's and master's degrees in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Cunningham also began his career as an athletic director at Notre Dame, being their associate athletics director from 1995-2002.

Athletic Director

Ball State

Cunningham was for the first time made athletics director at Ball State in 2002. His biggest accomplishment at Ball State was a $12 million campaign to renovate their football stadium.

Tulsa

Cunningham accepted his second athletics director job at Tulsa in 2005. He was Tulsa's athletic director during their transition to

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

. While being the athletics director, Tulsa won 34 league championships in various sports, more than any other school in his tenure. He was honored as the 2008-09 FBS Central Region Athletics Director of the Year, an award given by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

North Carolina

On November 14, 2011, Cunningham accepted his current athletics director job at North Carolina. He has enjoyed a successful tenure as the athletics director, being awarded the 2019-20 AD of the Year Award from The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and being appointed to various prestigious committees.

Personal life

Cunningham is married to Tina Cunningham, and they have four grown children: Matthew, Michael, John and Sarah.

References

External links

North Carolina profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Bubba Living people Ball State Cardinals athletic directors North Carolina Tar Heels athletic directors Tulsa Golden Hurricane athletic directors 1962 births