Athletics

Chapman promoted to associate athletic director for facility, event operations

Expanded role to include oversight of all athletic facilities

As associate athletic director for facility and event operations, Cory Chapman will serve as facilities coordinator for more than 20 athletic facilities at University Park, including Beaver Stadium, where he also is the director of game-day operations. Credit: GoPSUsports.com. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State has announced the promotion of Cory Chapman to associate athletic director for facility and event operations. Chapman joined the Nittany Lions’ staff as assistant athletic director and general manager of Beaver Stadium and Pegula Ice Arena in August 2015.

In his expanded role, Chapman will serve as facilities coordinator for more than 20 athletic facilities; manage major and minor maintenance and projects; conduct capital planning; and manage a staff of building coordinators, game-day staff, information technology personnel, and other support staff. Chapman also is the director of game-day operations at Beaver Stadium, a role he held for the majority of the 2017 season.

During his initial three years in Happy Valley, Chapman has played an instrumental role in the planning to expand the Beaver Stadium entry gates, resulting in reduced wait times to enter the facility during the 2017 season. He also coordinated many efforts related to the inaugural Happy Valley Jam in Beaver Stadium in July 2017 and hired Whelan Event Staffing Services to provide event services at Beaver Stadium, Rec Hall and Pegula Ice Arena.

From LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Chapman came to Penn State in 2015 after serving six years in facility operations and event management at the University of Minnesota.

Chapman has more than 15 years of facility management and programming experience. He joined the Minnesota staff in 2009 and spent his last two years as senior director for indoor arenas, with oversight of six facilities, including Williams Arena, Mariucci Arena, and the Sports Pavilion. Chapman was the operations manager of TCF Bank Stadium during its inaugural season in 2009 and then spent three years as the director of operations for Williams Arena and the Sports Pavilion.

Chapman began his facility management career at Simpson College in Iowa, serving as the event operations/facility manager for seven years. He also served as Simpson’s head women’s soccer coach for five seasons, winning the 2006 IIAC championship and earning Coach of the Year honors that year.

A four-year collegiate soccer letterwinner, Chapman also was an event operations assistant with the Arena Football League’s Iowa Barnstormers in 2009 before moving to Minnesota. He is a member of the Collegiate Event and Facility Management Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Chapman graduated from Viterbo University with a degree in liberal studies and earned a master's degree in health and human studies from Fort Hays State University. He played soccer as a junior and senior at Viterbo. Chapman earned second-team All-America honors as a freshman at Bethany Lutheran College in Minnesota.

Chapman and his wife, Lynn, have two daughters, Maria and Casey, and a son, Charlie.

Last Updated May 11, 2018