Babson’s Lawrence P. Ward Appointed to the NCAA’s Board of Governors 

Lawrence P. Ward, Babson College’s vice president and dean of campus life, has been appointed to the board of governors of the NCAA, the organization’s highest governing body. 

The board is made up of 16 members, including a number of college presidents, as well as graduated student-athletes and NCAA president Charlie Baker, the former governor of Massachusetts. 

Ward’s one-year term on the board begins this month. “I have long admired student-athletes,” Ward said, “especially those that compete in Division III at highly selective institutions like Babson College.” 

The board of governors provides strategic planning for the NCAA, which governs intercollegiate athletics at roughly 1,100 colleges across the United States. Nearly half a million athletes participate in NCAA sports. 

The board also initiates and settles litigation, provides oversight of the NCAA’s budget, and employs the NCAA president. 

“Our student-athletes compete with passion and integrity for the love of their sport, their teammates, and their institution,” Ward said. “So, I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to advocate for their interests, development, safety, and overall well-being at the highest level of influence at the NCAA.” 

As Ward sits on the board, he also will serve as chair of the NCAA Division III Management Council. He was appointed to the council in 2021 and is now in his final year of a four-year term there. 

Ward’s first engagement with the NCAA came in 2017 as a featured speaker for the Institute for Administrative Advancement, which is a developmental program for aspiring athletics administrators of color. Since then, he has returned regularly to speak at the program.