Lawrence “Bubba” Cunningham is the director of athletics at UNC. He is the seventh athletic director in UNC’s history. He was introduced by former Chancellor Holden Thorp in October 2011. Before coming to UNC, Cunningham worked in the athletic department of Ball State, Notre Dame and Tulsa.
During his time at UNC, Cunningham has worked with the Disney Institute to help identify new best practices in the athletic department. In 2013, he launched the Student-Athlete Initiative Working Group with Provost James Dean to help give academic support to student-athletes. He has also commissioned a review by an outside firm looking for ways to improve UNC’s athletic facilities.