A dynamic and proven leader, Packer Webster enters her sixth year steering Franklin & Marshall athletics & recreation, leveraging a powerful +15-year career defined by championship excellence and strategic growth in athletic departments across all three NCAA divisions. She arrived at F&M as an accomplished administrator, ready to cultivate a championship culture that champions student-athlete success in competition, classroom and community.
Her tenure with the Diplomats has been marked by immediate, transformational impact and accelerated departmental growth.
F&M has secured 10 conference championships while advancing 18 teams to NCAA championships with an additional 11 individuals selected to represent the Diplomats at NCAA championships.
Other programmatic highlights include a return to athletic scholarships in Division I wrestling, the reclassification of women’s squash to Division I and creation of athletic scholarships for the program, a strategic partnership with the Hamilton Club to bring a women’s Professional Squash Association tournament to Lancaster for the first time ever and now in its fifth year in 2025, and a campus wide celebration of athletics during the first-ever night football game in Shadek Stadium.
Packer Webster has been instrumental in galvanizing the department's fundraising efforts, shattering previous records for both athletic fund dollars and number of donors. Over $3.69 million in athletics annual fund dollars have been raised since Packer Webster joined F&M, including a record total following the 24-25 year and three consecutive years of record-breaking totals for the annual month-long “Raise Our Game” campaign.
In addition to leading several head coaching searches for football, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming, tennis and softball, Packer Webster has also overseen the creation of new positions for an assistant athletic director, performance enhancement coach, aquatics & recreation director, and athletic communications while additionally creating a Coaches Advisory Group and enhanced sport administrator model. Service commitments at F&M include: Presidential Search Committee (2024-25), Vice President for Enrollment Search Committee (2023), Presidential Working Group on Engaging Alumni (2021-2024) and Vice President for Advancement Search Committee (2022).
Prior to F&M, Packer Webster spent 13 impactful years as a senior leader at Mercyhurst University, managing one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful multi-divisional athletics departments. There, she oversaw all aspects of 22 Division II sports and the administration of the Division I men's and women's ice hockey programs.
With student success as her driving passion, she helped guide the Lakers to unprecedented competitive and operational excellence, resulting in seven straight top-50 finishes in the Learfield Directors' Cup, including back-to-back years in the top-20 and the school's highest rankings in history. Under her leadership, Mercyhurst celebrated national championships in wrestling, women's rowing, and men's lacrosse.
Her commitment extends to national service, including serving as the national media coordinator for the Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight (working with ESPN2 and CBS College Sports) and executing a four-year term on the Division II Wrestling National Committee, where she successfully lobbied for a championship field increase of 20 wrestlers.
Packer Webster is a graduate of the Women Leaders in College Sports Executive Institute (2019) and NCAA Pathways (2021). She holds a master's degree in communication studies from Edinboro University (2006) and a bachelor's degree in communications and media studies from Penn State (2004).
All-Time List of F&M Athletic Directors
Charles W. Mayser, 1924 to 1946.
W. Austin Bishop, 1946 - 1949.
J. Shober Barr, 1949 - 1963
S. Woodrow Sponaugle, 1963 - 1967
W. Roy Phillips, 1967 - 1971
Dr. William A. Marshall, 1971 - 1998
Peter Van Buskirk, 1998-1999 (Interim)
Dr. Robert Bunnell, 1999 - 2004
Tim Downes, 2004-2007
Patricia S.W. Epps, 2007-2020
Lauren Packer Webster, 2020-present
