Lee Reed is the Francis X. Rienzo Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Georgetown University. Appointed in April 2010 as Georgetown’s 17th director of athletics, Reed is in his 17th academic year on the Hilltop and is among the longest-tenured sitting Division I athletics directors in the country. He leads one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive Division I athletics programs, encompassing 30 varsity sports and more than 750 student-athletes.
Across more than three decades in Division I athletics administration, Reed has built his leadership approach around the belief that intercollegiate athletics is an extension of the University’s educational mission. His philosophy for Georgetown Athletics, “student-athlete centered, coach driven and administrator assisted,” has guided a tenure marked by broad-based competitive success, academic achievement, significant investment in student-athlete development and facilities, and leadership through a period of unprecedented change in college athletics.
Under Reed’s leadership, Georgetown teams have captured 58 conference regular-season and tournament championships and nine team national championships. Those national titles include the 2011 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship, the 2019 NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, national championships in sailing and multiple Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships in men’s lightweight rowing. Georgetown student-athletes have also captured individual and relay NCAA national championships in track & field. Five Hoya head coaches have earned national coach of the year honors during Reed’s tenure, with numerous coaches and coaching staffs also receiving conference recognition.
The breadth and consistency of that success is reflected in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which measures NCAA postseason performance across Division I. Since the reconfiguration of the BIG EAST in 2013, Georgetown has finished first or second in the conference in 10 of 13 final Directors’ Cup standings, including six first-place finishes, while consistently ranking among the nation’s leading non-FBS institutions. In 2023-24, the Hoyas finished No. 53 nationally which was first in the BIG EAST, fifth among non-FBS institutions and GU's best finish in more than 20 years. Most recently, Georgetown finished 2025-26 at No. 72 nationally to rank second in the BIG EAST.
Academic achievement has remained equally central to the program. Georgetown student-athletes consistently post department-wide GPAs above 3.4, including a 3.54 GPA in spring 2026, while maintaining a Graduation Success Rate near 98 percent and strong NCAA Academic Progress Rate performance. Georgetown has earned the BIG EAST Presidents’ Award four times—2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025—recognizing comprehensive excellence in academics, athletics and citizenship.
Reed has also overseen a significant transformation of the facilities, resources and programs supporting Georgetown student-athletes. In 2016, Georgetown opened the 144,000-square-foot John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center, the first new varsity athletics facility constructed on the Hilltop since 1951. The Thompson Center created an integrated home for Georgetown Athletics and its sports performance, sports medicine, academic support and leadership development programs. Reed also oversaw the completion of Cooper Field in 2020, providing an enhanced home for football and field hockey, and the installation of lights at Shaw Field in 2025, expanding the capabilities of one of the University’s primary competition venues.
Philanthropic growth has been a defining component of that transformation. During Reed’s tenure, Georgetown Athletics has raised approximately $245 million through two major University campaigns. Athletics raised $125 million through the For Generations to Come campaign and an additional $120 million through the recently completed Called to Be campaign, significantly expanding philanthropic resources available to support Georgetown student-athletes, coaches, programs and facilities. The fundraising effort has included a historic $50 million commitment supporting the Cooper Athletics Leadership Program and completion of Cooper Field.
Reed established and expanded the Cooper Athletics Leadership Program, creating a comprehensive approach to leadership and personal development for Georgetown student-athletes. He has also made student-athlete health and well-being a strategic priority. Under his leadership, Georgetown developed a dedicated mental health services program that was the first of its kind in the BIG EAST and among the first fully endowed programs of its kind nationally. Together with expanded investments in academic services, sports medicine, sports performance and nutrition, these initiatives have strengthened Georgetown’s comprehensive approach to student-athlete development and well-being.
Reed has guided Georgetown through significant transformation across intercollegiate athletics, including conference realignment and the formation of the reconfigured BIG EAST in 2013, changing media and commercial models, the evolution of student-athlete compensation and the changing economic and governance structure of Division I athletics. Throughout that evolution, his focus has remained on positioning Georgetown to compete nationally while sustaining a broad-based athletics program aligned with the University’s educational mission.
His leadership extends nationally. Reed currently serves on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, contributing to the selection, seeding and administration of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. He served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 2018–19 and was recognized as a NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year in 2017. Reed has also served as chair of the John McLendon Foundation Board and has been actively involved throughout his career in national leadership development and mentorship initiatives.
Prior to Georgetown, Reed served eight years as director of athletics at Cleveland State University and previously held leadership positions at Eastern Michigan University, including serving as an associate director of athletics. A former basketball student-athlete at Cleveland State, Reed earned his master’s degree in sports administration from the University of New Mexico, where he also served on the men’s basketball staff.
Across more than three decades in Division I athletics administration, Reed’s career has been defined by a commitment to competitive excellence, academic achievement, student-athlete development and institutional alignment. His tenure at Georgetown has combined sustained broad-based performance with transformational investments in people, programs and facilities while positioning Georgetown Athletics for continued success in the evolving landscape of Division I athletics.
