Lauren Packer Webster was appointed the Director of Athletics & Recreation by President Barbara K. Altmann on June 25, 2020.
Entering her fourth year with the Diplomats during the 2023-24 academic year, Packer Webster came to Franklin & Marshall as an accomplished administrator with a 15-year career in intercollegiate athletics, excelling at both institution and conference administration within NCAA Division I and II.
During her first three years at Franklin & Marshall, she led a safe return to competition that saw immediate success with three Centennial Conference Championships during the spring of 2021. The Diplomats have combined to win six Centennial Conference Championships and sent 11 teams to the NCAA Championships during the past three seasons, showcasing the strength of the student-athlete experience under the Diplomat championship culture as F&M excels both in the classroom and on the playing field. Other highlights of her tenure include a return to athletic scholarships in Division I wrestling, a strategic partnership with the Hamilton Club to bring a women’s Professional Squash Association tournament to Lancaster for the first time ever, and a campus wide celebration of athletics during the first-ever night football game in Shadek Stadium.
Packer Webster has also championed the department’s fundraising efforts, highlighted by record-breaking totals in both athletic fund dollars and number of donors. The annual month-long Raise our Game campaign in support of the Diplomat Athletic Club raised over $400,000 during October 2022, with annual fund totals nearing $2 million in her first three years.
In addition to leading several head coaching searches for football, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming 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.
Prior to F&M, Packer Webster spent 13 years at Mercyhurst University as a senior leader in one of the nation’s most comprehensive and successful multi-divisional athletics departments. There she managed all aspects of 22 Division II sports and administration of the Division I men's and women's ice hockey programs.
With student success as her driving passion, Packer Webster helped guide the Lakers into competitive and operational excellence in the most successful decade of intercollegiate athletics at Mercyhurst. The Lakers saw unparalleled success under her leadership with seven straight top-50 finishes in the Learfield Directors' Cup, including back-to-back years in the top-20 and their highest rankings in the school's history. Mercyhurst won national championships in wrestling, women's rowing and men's lacrosse along with top-10 national finishes in numerous sports and twice competed in the world-renowned Henley Royal Regatta.Â
In addition to her vast experience at Mercyhurst, Packer Webster served at the national level on various committees and organizations. Her service commitments showcase a passion and dedication to the overall administration of the student-athlete experience. She served as the national media coordinator for the Division II Women’s Basketball Elite Eight, working with ESPN2 and CBS College Sports to produce semifinal and national championship game broadcasts. Additionally, she executed a four-year term on the Division II Wrestling National Committee in which she successfully lobbied for a championship field increase of 20 wrestlers.
Packer Webster is a 2019 graduate of the Women Leaders in College Sports Executive Institute and is a 2020-21 NCAA Pathways graduate. She earned her master's degree in communication studies from Edinboro University in 2006 and a bachelor's degree in communications and media studies from Penn State in 2004.Â
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
