Flames Athletics Secures Largest Ever Gift for Women's Athletics (Nov. 30, 2023)
UIC Athletics Announces Launch of The Chicago Collective (Aug. 31, 2023)
UIC Extends Partnership with Adidas - (Mar. 27, 2023)
UIC Joins Missouri Valley Conference - Chicago Tribune (Jan. 27, 2022)
Flames Athletics Invests in Student-Athlete Mental Health - WGN-TV (Mar. 18, 2021)
Michael Lipitz Named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics (Oct. 15, 2019)
Michael Lipitz joined UIC in October 2019 following two decades in the Atlantic Coast Conference at North Carolina State University and the University of Maryland.
Through his first four years at the helm, Lipitz has led the Flames to historic results in the classroom, in competition, and in the community. He also spearheaded UIC’s move to the Missouri Valley Conference beginning with the 2022-23 academic year.
The Flames have posted the best academic results in school history in recent years, recording cumulative 3.4 GPA and a program record 93% Graduation Rate. Half of the Flames' 300 student-athletes earned Dean's List honors in the 2023-24 academic year.
UIC captured its first-ever Horizon League Women’s All-Sport Trophy in 2021, as measured by team finishes in the regular season and championships. The Flames won three Horizon League Championships in softball, women’s tennis, and volleyball, along with three individual titles in women’s diving, men’s diving, and men’s cross country. In addition, Lena Kurz of women’s soccer won the 2021 Senior CLASS Award recognizing the nation’s best all-around senior, the first UIC student-athlete in any sport to be so honored. UIC women's basketball earned consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in school history in 2023 (WBIT) and 2024 (WNIT).
Athletics has set fundraising records as well. The Flames secured the largest-ever gift for women's athletics for its softball program in 2023, set records during GivingTuesday for donor participation (2021) and raised dollars raised (2020), and recorded its third-largest endowed scholarship gift in program history (2020). Athletics also relaunched its annual giving program, the Flames Athletics Fund, to incentivize annual giving and better reward current and future donors, and created Sparky’s Kids Club for its youngest Flames.
Student-athlete health and wellness are a focus for Flames Athletics under Lipitz’s leadership. In fall 2020, the department launched the Flames Leadership Institute to provide comprehensive programming in leadership, career development, personal development, equity and inclusion, and service to the campus and Chicago communities. In spring 2021, UIC Athletics developed the Flames Unite initiative as an umbrella for its DEI efforts and resources. The department also invested in a multi-year partnership with Millennium Counseling and an on-campus partnership with the Jane Addams College of Social Work that have significantly expanded student-athlete access to mental wellness resources.
UIC is enhancing its athletics facilities, too. The Flames Athletic Center basketball practice facility and men's and women's basketball locker rooms have been renovated, while enhanced branding has been installed throughout athletics facilities following the department’s comprehensive refresh of its athletics brand. UIC opened Chicago’s premier collegiate soccer venue in fall 2022 following a $5M renovation of Flames Field. The new Flames Softball Clubhouse was opened in Spring 2024. UIC is also pursuing a comprehensive student-athlete performance center to enhance student-athlete resources in athletic medicine, sports performance, nutrition, mental wellness, and related health and wellness services.
Lipitz serves in leadership roles on UIC’s campus and nationally. He is a member of the UIC Chancellor’s Cabinet and serves as Chair of the MVC Council of Athletic Directors. He also serves on the league's Finance Committee, Sports Medicine Committee, and Strategic Planning Committee. At the national level, Lipitz is in his second year on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Competition Committee. During the 2021-22 academic year, he was one of 10 athletic directors nationally on the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee. He also became a member of the Economic Club of Chicago in 2023.
Lipitz came to Chicago after nearly nine years at NC State University. As deputy athletics director, he assisted with the daily operations of a department with 250 employees, 23 sports, and 550 student-athletes. He oversaw personnel and legal matters for athletics, capital projects, facilities and operations, equipment, championships and special events, and supervised the Wolfpack’s football program, women's basketball program, and multiple Olympic sports. He led numerous strategic initiatives for the Wolfpack, including: the $35 million renovation of the historic Reynolds Coliseum; the construction of the $14 million Close-King Indoor Football Practice Facility; and the creation of the NC State Athletic Hall of Fame and the construction of its Walk of Fame & History.
Prior to NC State, Lipitz spent 11 years in senior leadership roles at the University of Maryland. He oversaw the Terps’ marketing, licensing, ticket sales and video units, and managed relationships with its sponsorship rights holder, its football fundraising organization, and its letterwinner organization. He negotiated and managed athletics contracts, including Maryland’s all-sport apparel deal with Under Armour, and multimedia, concessions, merchandising, and personnel agreements. He also supervised several Olympic sports programs.
Lipitz also previously served as Chief Operating Officer of the Orange Bowl Committee, the not-for-profit organization that produces the annual Orange Bowl football classic and related bowl week festivities, as well as community and youth sports initiatives throughout the year in South Florida.
He holds a law degree from Villanova University and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Maryland, where he captained the men's tennis team. He and his wife, Kerry, are the proud parents of two sons, Henry and Charlie, and a dog, River.
Updated May 2024
