Forbes Names Sandy Barbour Among Most Powerful Women in U.S. Sports

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour was named the 13th most powerful woman in U.S. sports in a new list by Forbes.

In creating the list, Forbes zeroed in on a select group of women who “have made tremendous progress in not only breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling but shattering it altogether.” Other women on the list include National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts, who is ranked No. 1, WWE co-president Michelle Wilson, and tennis icons Billie Jean King and Serena Williams.

Barbour is the only athletic director on the list.

Forbes consulted a panel of eight individuals “who have firsthand insight and knowledge of sport’s top female movers and shakers,” like Deborah Slaner Larkin, the former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and Megan Kahn, the executive director of the Alliance of Women Coaches.

Each panelist submitted 30 names in no particular order to create a pool of more than 100 candidates. A list of finalists was compiled through votes on candidates’ measurable career accomplishments, sphere of influence and impact.

Through this methodology, the panel determined Barbour to be “one of the most forward-thinking administrators in all of college sports.” She was ranked No. 11 on the same Forbes list in 2015.

Barbour was the athletic director at the University of California for 10 years before becoming Penn State’s first female athletic director. She remains one of the few female ADs in the country and earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Committee’s inaugural Collegiate Advisory Council in October.