Judy Rose serves as the Director of Athletics Emerita at UNC Charlotte (NC).  

During her tenure with the Charlotte 49ers, Director of Athletics Judy Rose was one of the most successful and well-respected Athletics Directors in the nation. She served as 49ers Director of Athletics for 28 years and was a member of the athletics department for 43 years.

At the time of her appointment in 1990, she was just the third female to be put in charge of a Division I program. In 1999-2000, she became the first female to serve on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. She served a five-year term (2000-2004) on that committee. She also completed a term as 2003-04 President of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and was one of less than 70 university presidents and athletics administrators invited to NCAA President Mark Emmert’s Summer 2011 Retreat.

Chief among her accomplishments with the university is the systematic growth of the 49ers program. That growth culminated with the unveiling of the Charlotte 49ers football program in 2013 -- a start-up program that will play two yaers as an FCS Independent before moving to the FBS Conference USA in 2015. In 2012, the football fieldhouse was named by donor Dale Halton in her honor: Judy W. Rose Football Center

With the 49ers, she oversaw the 49ers moves from the Sun Belt Conference to the Metro Conference to Conference USA to the Atlantic 10 and back to FBS C-USA in 2013-14. She oversaw the 49ers growth into a program that is fully-funded at the NCAA level for athletic scholarships. She helped develop over $100 million worth of athletic facilities which have enhanced playing venues, academic services, strength and conditioning programs, training and medical support to improve the experience of each and every student-athlete.

She was instrumental in attracting national sporting events to Charlotte such as the 1994 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, the 1996 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Men’s Soccer College Cups as well as a variety of NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament rounds.

The 49ers enjoyed similar success in competition and the classroom. Since Rose became A.D., 14 of the school’s athletic programs either won a league title or been represented in NCAA play, or both. Prior to her stint as A.D., only two programs touted such success. Meanwhile, the athletic department now boasts a cumulative GPA of over 3.0 -- and has for seven straight years.

Along the way, Rose has reaped her share of awards, for professional success, contributions to the community and leadership. In June 2013 she earned the Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Annual Women in Business Luncheon and was named to the Business Journal’s Women in Business Class of 2013.

Judy and her husband Ken, married since 1986, live in Denver, N.C. Rose retired in January, 2018.

Since the NJCAA Foundation was established in 2018, Rose has been instrumental in building the Foundation, including the efforts to assemble the inaugural NJCAA Foundation Board of Directors and creating a strong presence for the association in the Charlotte community. 

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