Joe Alleva
Joe Alleva continues to bring unprecedented national recognition to LSU as Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics. Under Alleva’s leadership, LSU enjoys one of the country’s premier athletics programs with success on and off the field of competition. Now in his ninth year at LSU, Alleva is dedicated to athletic and academic excellence, and he is committed to providing the opportunities and the resources necessary for student- athletes to excel in competition, in the classroom and in the community. Alleva joined the LSU family on April 4, 2008 after a highly successful tenure as director of athletics at Duke University for 10 years. He was named vice chancellor at LSU in August of 2009, marking the first time in school history that the director of athletics has also held a vice chancellor position.
Alleva completed last spring a five-year term on the prestigious NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee, enhancing his reputation as one of the most respected athletic administrators in the country. He has been appointed to numerous national committees throughout his career, including the Football Bowl Certification Committee, the NCAA Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and several Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference committees.
Upon his arrival at LSU, Alleva unveiled a strategic master plan for the LSU athletics program — “LSU: Defined by Excellence” — to confirm the advancement and future of LSU Athletics as an exemplary enterprise. The central mission of the plan is to create an environment for student- athletes to reach their ultimate potential, prepare them to be champions in life and to set goals and values for the entire athletics program.
Alleva’s tenure has been distinguished by a number of significant athletic achievements, including four 10-win seasons and 78 total victories by the football team. The Tigers have played in a bowl game in each of Alleva’s eight gridiron seasons and LSU has finished in the Top 20 six times in that period. LSU under Alleva’s leadership has claimed the 2009 baseball national championship and three College World Series berths, the 2015 men’s golf national championship, two women’s basketball Sweet 16 appearances, four gymnastics Super Six berths, three softball College World Series appearances and 18 NCAA Top 5 finishes indoors and outdoors by the men’s and women’s track and field teams.
Alleva’s vision keeps LSU among the nation’s leaders in athletic facilities. Last year, LSU unveiled two new venues — a magnificent Gymnastics Practice Facility and a tremendous Tennis Center featuring both indoor and outdoor courts. Construction will begin this year on a Nutrition Center within the expansive existing space at the South End of Tiger Stadium. The new facility will feature 30,000 square feet of dining and kitchen area and all of the elements necessary to ensure that the Tigers receive the absolute finest in dietary support.
Alleva is an innovator with bold ideas that benefit all of Greater Baton Rouge. He has been instrumental in the planning of the Bayou Country Superfest, a three-day country music concert and festival held in Tiger Stadium each spring. The event attracts over 100,000 visitors to the LSU campus and makes a tremendous economic impact upon the local community.
Alleva became director of athletics at Duke in 1998 and his impressive tenure there propelled the university into the ranks of America’s top all- around collegiate programs. Among his outstanding list of accomplishments includes the greatest 10-year period in Duke Athletics, winning more ACC and NCAA championships than in any other decade in school history.
Alleva, whose hometown is Suffern, N.Y., majored in Finance at Lehigh University and received his bachelor’s degree in 1975. While at Lehigh, Alleva was the quarterback of the football team and team captain in 1974. Alleva also played on the Lehigh baseball team. He served as a graduate assistant football coach and earned an MBA in 1976.
While at Duke, Alleva played a key role in Durham’s community sports scene. He started Little League Baseball in Durham over 20 years ago, and also began the American Legion baseball program.
He is a member of the North Carolina American Legion Hall of Fame, Suffern High School Hall of Fame and the Rockland County Hall of Fame. Alleva and his wife, Annie, have three children, J.D., Jeff, and Jenny, and four grandchildren.
