Vanderbilt names Candice Lee permanent athletic director

Candice Story Lee has had the "interim" tag removed and is now Vanderbilt's permanent athletic director, per a university announcement on Thursday.

"The decision firmly cements Lee’s place in Vanderbilt and college sports history," the news release said. "Lee is Vanderbilt’s first female athletic director and the first African American woman to head a Southeastern Conference athletics program. The appointment places her in the upper echelon of college athletics as one of only five women currently leading a Power Five program."

Lee takes over at time during which Vanderbilt has sought to raise capital for athletics improvement, and specifically for football. VU hasn’t had a winning football season since 2013, and its lack of efforts to improve facilities have been well-documented.

She also takes over during the worst run of men's basketball in recent school history. The Commodores have finished last or next-to-last in the SEC the past three seasons. Facilities upgrades for that sport have also been discussed in recent years.

"Candice is perfectly positioned to lead our athletics program to new heights of success on and off the field of play," incoming chancellor Daniel Diermeier said in a university press release. "She has the drive, creativity, and perseverance to help elevate our student-athletes, and the entire Vanderbilt Athletics program.

"The progress that Vanderbilt Athletics has achieved in recent years, and our very high aspirations for the future, are grounded in the university’s commitment both to academic excellence and to preparing our student-athletes to play and win in one of the most, if not the most, competitive conferences in the country. Candice is the living embodiment of these values and aspirations.”

Lee, who has worked inside the AD for nearly 20 years, rose to No. 2 in charge of the AD under the late David Williams in the middle of the past decade. Lee played basketball at Vanderbilt, earning a bachelor of science degree in human and organization development in 2000.

Williams resigned on Sept. 11, 2018 and was replaced by Malcolm Turner in February 2019. Lee supplanted Turner in February 2020 and remained in charge until given permanent responsibility.

Lee essentially ran the athletic department the last year and a half of Williams's tenure.

During that time, her most significant task was leading the search to replace women's basketball coach Melanie Balcomb. Balcomb departed VU in April 2016 after consecutive losing seasons, which followed a run of 12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, a string that stretched to 15 years including Jim Foster's last three.

In that search, Lee hired Stephanie White. White is 42-79 at VU and 13-51 in the Southeastern Conference and hasn't had a winning season or made the NCAA Tournament.

Vanderbilt's news release summarized Lee's accomplishments as follows:

"Lee has been instrumental in Vanderbilt Athletics’ success in proving that excellent academics and excellent athletics can coexist. In 2019, Vanderbilt finished with an overall NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 97, the highest of any SEC program for the fifth straight year. This year, student-athletes also exceeded a 3.0 grade-point average for the 15th straight year. The recently-released NCAA Academic Progress Rates for the 2018-19 academic year showed seven of Vanderbilt’s varsity programs earning perfect – and nation-leading – scores.

"Since 2007, Vanderbilt’s student-athletes have won five national championships, in baseball (two), women’s bowling (two) and women’s tennis. Vanderbilt has also won over two dozen league titles and tournaments, including the Southeastern Conference baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, women’s soccer and women’s tennis championships, the Southland Conference bowling championship and the American Lacrosse Conference title. The Vanderbilt football team has played in six bowl games in recent years, breaking a 26-year drought in 2008."

Lee got a master's degree in counseling from VU in 2002 and a doctorate in higher education administration in 2012, also from Vanderbilt.