From the halls of Bob Jones High School in Madison, Dr. Candice Storey Lee has turn out to be one of the most influential and profitable girls in school sports activities.
Now, she is one of the most profitable individuals in school athletics.
Lee, Vanderbilt’s vice chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs and athletic director, was not too long ago honored as Sports Business Journal’s Athletic Director of the Year throughout the annual Sports Business Awards in New York.
Amid unprecedented change in school athletics, Lee oversaw a historic 12 months of particular person and collective aggressive success and game-changing philanthropic and neighborhood help.
“In sports, individual awards are team awards in disguise, and I’m gratified to accept this honor from Sports Business Journal on behalf of the Vanderbilt student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters who are changing the narrative about what is possible here,” Lee stated. “We aren’t shy about setting big goals, from reimagining our physical footprint through the Vandy United campaign to competing for national championships on the football field and across 17 varsity sports and launching Anchored for Her to become the premier destination for women’s sports.”
Recently named the 2026 Tennessean of the Year by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Lee was the solely returning finalist for this 12 months’s SBJ award, indicative of the sustained success throughout 17 varsity sports activities that has galvanized the Vanderbilt neighborhood.
“Candice Storey Lee exemplifies Vanderbilt’s commitment to pursue excellence without compromise,” stated Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. “From hiring head coaches who helped lift our standards during a historically successful year to leading the Vandy United campaign into a new phase and helping our university connect with new audiences, she wholeheartedly deserves this recognition.”
A workforce captain, four-year letter winner, and five-time SEC Academic Honor Roll choice as a member of Vanderbilt’s girls’s basketball workforce, Lee battled by way of knee accidents and helped lead the Commodores to an SEC Tournament championship in her closing season (2002).
She was a mannequin student-athlete at Bob Jones High School and was named to the 2022 class of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.
Lee can be a “Triple Dore,” having acquired a bachelor’s diploma, a grasp’s and a doctorate from Vanderbilt. She graduated with a bachelor of science in human and organizational improvement in 2000, acquired her grasp’s diploma in counseling in 2002 and her doctorate in larger schooling administration in 2012. She is also celebrating her thirtieth anniversary as a Vanderbilt student-athlete and administrator in 2026.
“As a pioneering and inspirational alumna, she embodies the value of collegiate athletics within the great university of the 21st century and the bold spirit at the core of our mission,” Diermeier stated.
The award, which acknowledges excellence from March 1, 2025, by way of Feb. 28, 2026, exemplifies the college’s redoubled dedication to create a championship setting and the years of planning and funding that Lee spearheaded by way of Vandy United and comparable efforts.
“We think we can do it all,” Lee stated. “And as athletic director and a proud alum, what I love about this community is we’re willing to do the work, together, to make it happen.”