Leadership in College Athletics

Meet the Speaker: Missy Conboy '82, '91 MBA

Missy Conboy ’82, ’91 MBA, a 37-year veteran of the Notre Dame Athletic Department staff, is the senior deputy director of athletics. In that role, Missy currently oversees Industry and Campus Engagement, Policy and Legal Issues.  She is the University’s primary liaison to both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), having served as the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) for all 37 years of her tenure.  She also represents the University as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Athletics and is the sport administrator for the volleyball program.

Since her initial hire in 1987, Missy has led nearly every internal area within athletics, including Compliance, Legal, Business Operations, Human Resources, Athletic Performance, Student-Athlete Development, Facilities, Master Planning, Capital Projects, Events and Community Outreach. During her 15 years in charge of capital projects, she was the athletics lead for the renovations of Purcell Pavilion, Rolfs Athletic Hall and Notre Dame Stadium.  In addition, she oversaw planning and construction of a number of new buildings, including Compton Family Ice Arena, the McConnell Boathouse and the Irish Athletics Center Football and Soccer Indoor Practice Facility. She has also served as sport administrator for 16 different Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s sport programs.

Missy is a liaison both to the Athletic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty Board on Athletics. She has served on a number of ACC and NCAA Committees, including nine years on the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, in addition to terms on the NCAA Legislative Review Committee and the NCAA Men’s Tennis Committee.

Missy was a four-year member of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team from 1978-82, serving as team captain her senior year. She graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in English in 1982 and earned her juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1985. Missy is married to Bill Mountford, a 1983 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and a 1991 graduate of Notre Dame’s MBA school. The couple has three daughters: Darby ’16 and a tennis Monogram winner, Delaney ’20 MSM and Killian Rose ’21.

Meet the Faculty: Chris Stevens '74

Chris Stevens ’74 is a former Irish basketball player and past member of the Notre Dame Monogram Club Board of Directors. He is one of the three original developers of the Keurig Premium Coffee System and currently is an associate teaching professor in the Mendoza College of Business.

Before joining Keurig in 1996, Chris worked in a variety of senior sales, marketing, and management positions at companies like Procter and Gamble and Anheuser-Busch. Leveraging his more than 20 years of experience, Chris developed the Keurig brand, sales, distribution, and marketing strategies, playing a key role in the success and growth of the company. He was also responsible for all aspects of Keurig’s corporate social responsibility practices as part of its commitment to donate at least five percent of pre-tax profits to environmental and social causes.

In the fall of 2012, Chris joined the Mendoza College of Business as a professional specialist teaching undergraduate courses. After retiring from Keurig in 2013, he began teaching M.B.A. courses in business problem-solving, change management, and entrepreneurship at Notre Dame’s South Bend and Chicago campuses. In 2017, he joined Mendoza as a full-time faculty member. His teaching honors include Notre Dame’s prestigious Frank O’Malley Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2014 and 2015, Mendoza’s Blessed Rev. Basil Anthony Moreau, C.S.C. Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2014, and the Harvey G. Foster Award in 2015 for distinguished work on behalf of the Notre Dame community and those in need.

Chris is also the founder and CEO of CS 74 Ventures LLC, a holding company for more than 20 initiatives, in which Chris invests or owns, that commit at least 50 percent of their profits to charitable and social causes. He has been an angel investor in several start-ups; has done acting, broadcasting, and voice-over work; and is the executive producer of the award-winning movie Three Days of Hamlet. He also authored Fighting to Give, a book he self-published about a Notre Dame classmate who died after a courageous battle against ALS; 100 percent of the proceeds fund research for Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Chris is a past board member of Mass. Crinc, the ALS Association of America, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, and the Monogram Club of Notre Dame. He is the Chair of the worldwide Council of Business Professions of the Fetzer Institute and active in a number of other charities.

Chris received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.

View the Event

Presented by Inspired Leadership Initiative

Thursday, February 22, 2024 12:00 pm

During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Inspired Leadership Initiative is exploring the topic of Leadership in Public Conversation. We’ll from leaders across disciplines and industries who can speak to relevant topics in today’s world. From a podcaster focusing on fulfillment, to young Notre Dame alumni making their mark in society, and individuals navigating complex current events, all are setting an example for accompanying generations through their personal and professional lives.

Guest speaker, Missy Conboy ’82, ’91 MBA, Senior Deputy Director of Athletics, was a member (and Captain) of the Women’s Basketball Team during her time as a Notre Dame student, and has spent her career in collegiate athletics. Learn about her time at the NCAA and her 37 years at Notre Dame, including some of the most rewarding and challenging moments during her time as a leader, and her observations on the current state of collegiate athletics.