Vicky Chun

Vicky Chun

When Vicky Chun joined her school’s flag football team in Culver City, California as a fifth grader, and the only girl, she got a vibe that “maybe I’m not supposed to.” She chastises herself now (“You shouldn’t let someone tell you what you are supposed to do.”) but it drove her to stay “focused on ‘girl’s’ sports.” She excelled at volleyball, which she played and coached at Colgate before becoming the Athletic Director. Chun is now Yale’s Athletic Director, where she supervises 35 varsity teams plus club and intramural sports. She is the first woman and the first Asian American to do so. Men dominate college athletics. Just 12 percent of Division I Athletic Directors are women; across all three divisions only three percent are women of color. Chun embraces social media – @vickychun91 – and is cast as “a go-getter. Fun. Tough.” She’s also brought an updated sensibility to Tower Parkway, decluttering the space and adding joy (mini basketball in the waiting area) and, in her office, a replica of the 400-pound Blue Striped Marlin she reeled in (2 1/2 hours). Chun loves cardio boxing, which fits her personality and her goal for Yale teams. “I am very competitive,” she said. “I do want to win.”