George Washington University President Thomas LeBlanc announced Monday that Tanya Vogel has been named the university’s director of athletics and recreation, effective July 1. Ms. Vogel has been serving as acting athletics director since Jan. 1.
“Tanya knows the GW athletics program through and through,” Dr. LeBlanc said. “I can think of no one better to lead our program into the future. I’ve had the chance to observe Tanya in this role for the last three months. I’m impressed with her leadership style, knowledge of NCAA athletics and commitment to the student-athlete experience. She has demonstrated a deep commitment to this university and to our student-athletes. I look forward to working with her as we raise high.”
Dr. LeBlanc also announced that the Department of Athletics and Recreation will now report to the Office of the President, also effective July 1. GW Athletics will host a press conference at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Charles E. Smith Center to introduce Ms. Vogel.
Ms. Vogel will be one of two female athletics directors currently serving in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
"I am extremely grateful to President LeBlanc for this opportunity,” said Ms. Vogel, B.S. ’96, M.S. ’99, M.B.A. ’06. “I am a product of and believer in the GW experience. Alongside our tremendous coaches, administrators and staff, I will work tirelessly to provide this world-class experience to our outstanding student-athletes.”
As a student-athlete competing in soccer as an undergraduate at GW, Ms. Vogel learned firsthand what the student-athlete experience should be. She later returned to the university as head coach of her former program from 2000 to 2011, before serving in a development capacity. She departed for a three-year stint at Northern Arizona in 2012, where she worked as senior associate athletics director, senior woman administrator and deputy Title IX coordinator.
Ms. Vogel returned to GW in 2015 to fulfill the same responsibilities she held at Northern Arizona, while also overseeing strength and conditioning, sports medicine, educational support services, facilities and working on student-athlete and staff development.
A GW Athletic Hall of Famer, Ms. Vogel has served on the NCAA Amateurism Cabinet, multiple Atlantic 10 Conference and Big Sky Conference committees and the GW Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. In 2013, Ms. Vogel was selected for the NCAA Pathway Program, which works to elevate senior-level administrators to the next step as directors of athletics. Ms. Vogel has also participated in the Women Leaders (formerly NACWAA) Executive Institute, designed to teach executive leadership solutions and help advance high-level women administrators to executive positions within athletics.
During her time as interim director of athletics and recreation at the university, GW teams won a pair of Atlantic 10 Championships with men’s swimming and diving and women’s basketball winning the conference in 2018 and advancing to NCAA postseason play.
“Having had the experience of being a student-athlete, head coach and administrator at the university, I am forever loyal to GW,” said Ms. Vogel. “I am very excited to work with President LeBlanc as we develop the plan for where we go from here and continue to build what it means to raise high."
