Staff Directory
- Title:
- Director of Athletics
- Email:
- Phone:
- 919-962-6000
Since Lawrence R. (Bubba) Cunningham officially began his duties as Carolina’s director of athletics on November 14, 2011, UNC has graduated more than 2,000 student-athletes while consistently competing for championships in an array of different sports – exciting, motivating and influencing along the way. Under Cunningham’s leadership, the athletic department has accomplished numerous academic and athletic achievements:
- The Tar Heels have won 24 national titles.
- More than 6,000 student-athletes have made the ACC Academic Honor Roll -- which requires a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better for the year.
- Student-athletes collectively have recorded a GPA of 3.0 or higher for 13 straight semesters.
- More than 50 student-athletes have been named to Phi Beta Kappa honor society.
- Sixteen student-athletes have been NCAA Elite 90 recipients.
- Fifteen Tar Heel teams scored a perfect 1000 in the NCAA’s APR for 2023-24. Four teams registered perfect 1000s for the four-year rate, 25 of Carolina's 28 teams achieved single-year rates of 970 or higher and 23 recorded multi-year rates of 980 or better.
- The Tar Heels finished in the top 10 of the NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup 11 times, including a top-five finish in 2024-25.
- And student-athletes have logged more than 65,000 hours of community service, helping at hospitals and local schools, and partnering with a variety of local and national groups.
Cunningham has led by supporting, challenging and innovating. Shortly after beginning his tenure as Carolina’s athletics director, he led a strategic planning process that defined the department’s mission statement: “We educate and inspire through athletics.”
And that’s just what UNC has done during his 14 years in Chapel Hill.
Among Carolina’s many achievements during his tenure are a student-athlete degree completion program called Complete Carolina; a master plan for UNC’s athletic facilities; the creation of the RAMMYs, a celebratory end-of-the-year awards show popular with Carolina’s student-athletes and staff; a commitment to youth sports with the National Fitness Foundation; a partnership with The Brandr Group to create a first-of-its-kind group licensing agreement for Tar Heel alumni; commemorating 50 Years of Carolina Women’s Athletics with a year-long celebration; and the launch of a Name, Image and Likeness initiative and website to help Tar Heel student-athletes, coaches, recruits, donors and fans navigate the changing landscape of college athletics.
He also has been committed to upgrading facilities to give student-athletes the best experience possible, overseeing more than $225 million worth of projects during his tenure in Chapel Hill. In 2018-19, Carolina finished construction on a new field hockey stadium, track and field complex and a new football practice facility and lacrosse/soccer stadium, as well as a new media and communications center. In 2021, Carolina opened the updated Eddie Smith Field House, and in 2022-23 it installed new video boards at Carmichael Arena and added state-of-the-art LED lighting to Carmichael, Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center. Carolina also completed updates to the women’s basketball locker room and opened the state-of-the-art Chewning Tennis Center in 2022-23 and opened a redesigned Finley Golf Club in 2023-24. In July 2024 it also opened a new women’s basketball practice gym.
In 2023, the department launched “Together We Win,” an updated strategic plan and vision for Carolina Athletics – the third strategic plan of Cunningham’s tenure at Carolina.
Cunningham’s leadership has also extended outside of Chapel Hill, as he has served on numerous NCAA committees over the last two decades. He is the past president of NACDA and previously sat on the board of LEAD1, an association representing the ADs from the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools. In 2019, he worked with the Atlantic Coast Conference to lead the launch of the ACC Network that fall, and he earned the 2019-20 AD of the Year Award from The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In 2020, he was named to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and in 2022 was named to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Board of Directors. He served as Chair of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Committee in 2025. He also is currently serving on the ACC Autonomy Committee and the Division I Decision Making Working Group/Transition Committee.
He has Carolina positioned to have a voice in the ongoing conversation about the future, whether it is in the state university system, the Atlantic Coast Conference or at the NCAA level.
Cunningham is in his 23rd year as a Division I director of athletics. He came to Chapel Hill after spending the previous six years as the AD at the University of Tulsa, where he guided the Golden Hurricane through its initial move to Conference USA and spearheaded a $60 million athletics initiative.
Tulsa won 34 league championships during his tenure, more than any other school in Conference USA, and the football program played in five bowl games in his final six years. He was the NACDA 2008-09 FBS Central Region Athletics Director of the Year.
He also served as Ball State University’s athletic director from 2002-05. There, he led a program with 19 intercollegiate sports and a budget of $12.4 million. In his final year, Ball State completed a $12 million campaign to renovate the football stadium. In raising those funds, Cunningham secured the largest single gift in Ball State athletics history.
Cunningham, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Notre Dame in 1984 and 1988, respectively, worked in his alma mater’s athletics department from 1988-2002. A former member of the Irish golf team (1982-83), Cunningham served as Notre Dame’s associate athletics director for finance and facilities from 1995-2000 and was the associate director of athletics for external affairs from 2000-02.
He also has served on the Gatorade National Advisory Board and has been a featured speaker at numerous NACDA and LEAD1 conferences.
*updated June 16, 2025
