Louise McCleary has been named the NCAA vice president of Division III, effective April 24. McCleary brings decades of administration experience, including the past 10 years at the NCAA national office working with Division III. She served as the interim vice president of Division III since February 2021.
"I am thrilled to continue the important work of managing the issues of Division III, collaborating with member schools and supporting the student-athletes competing on DIII campuses every day," McCleary said. "I've devoted much of my life to these schools and student-athletes. I am excited about what the future has in store for our membership during such an important time in the history of college sports."
As vice president, McCleary will serve as the Association's lead for Division III and report to NCAA Senior Vice President of Governance, Policy and Human Resources Cari Van Senus. McCleary joined the Association in 2012 as the director of Division III before being promoted to managing director of Division III in September 2017. The search for her replacement as managing director will take place in May.
"Louise brings a deep understanding of the Division III membership that we found was unrivaled among her peers across the country," Van Senus said. "I was delighted to get the unanimous recommendation from the search committee so the Association and national office could continue to benefit from her leadership."
The national search was chaired by NCAA Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer Kathleen McNeely and supported by a search committee with members from across the country.
Search Committee Members
- Heather Benning, commissioner, Midwest Conference.
- Terri Gronau, vice president of Division II, NCAA.
- Jim Miller, director of athletics, North Central College.
- Tori Murden McClure, president, Spalding University.
- Mercy Ogutu, member, Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
- Darryl Sims, director of athletics, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
- Liz Suscha, managing director of championships, NCAA.
- Jim Troha, president, Juniata College.
- Stan Wilcox, executive vice president of regulatory affairs, NCAA.
Before joining the national office, McCleary had been the athletics director at Elms since 2002 after spending time at Vassar, first as an associate athletics director and then as interim athletics director in 2001-02.
McCleary has a bachelor's degree in political science and American studies from Wellesley and a master's in sport management from Massachusetts-Amherst.
