Biography
Mike Lynch has held significant positions in fundraising and intercollegiate athletics over a 25 year career in higher education. He has raised money, invested wisely and built programs for his institutions.
Currently, Mike serves as the Pamela and Brian Barefoot Associate Vice President of Athletics and Athletics Advancement at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. Since his arrival at Babson in 2016, Mike has overhauled the department and built one of the most successful Division III athletic programs in the country. Among the significant accomplishments during Mike's tenure is the completion of a $55 million athletics and recreation center that serves as the center of campus life and the successful naming of the institutions first endowed position in athletics history. Dozens of teams have won conference championships and advanced to NCAA play under his leadership. Babson's Men's basketball team won the 2017 national title, giving Mike the distinction of having presided over a national championship program at both the DI and DIII levels.
In addition to his role at Babson, Mike is President and CEO of ML Consulting based in Boston, helping educational institutions and non-profit corporations to strengthen their operations in development, capital projects and overall efficiency.
Prior to launching ML Consulting, Mike served with distinction at Boston University. The 2011 Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year, Mike served as Assistant Vice President (AVP) and Director of Athletics for 10 years. For four years prior to that appointment, he served as AVP of Development for Athletics and Student Life.
Under Mike’s leadership at BU, the athletic department raised substantial funding, successfully completing over $300 million in new campus and renovated facility construction and greatly expanded endowment funding for scholarship and leadership programming for coaches and student-athletes, developed one of the most dominant women’s sports programs in the country, and transitioned from the America East Conference to the Patriot League. In those ten years, Terrier teams won over 50 conference championships. Eight times the BU athletic department was awarded an all-sports trophy as the most successful program in the respected conference. The Terriers also won the National Championship in Men’s Ice Hockey and twice sent their Women’s Hockey team to the national final. The program garnered significant accolades for the academic performance of student-athletes and was widely respected for overall success on the fields of play and in the classroom.
Mike was a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Rules Committee and chaired both America East and Hockey East Executive Committees. He also served on the Beanpot Committee, America East Strategic Planning and Hockey East Marketing committees. Lynch also chaired the Hockey East expansion committee that added the Notre Dame and Connecticut men's programs.
Prior to becoming Director of Athletics, as Assistant Vice President of Development for Athletics and Student Life, annual support for Athletics increased from $2.5 million to more than $9 million, and nearly $60 million in capital commitments was generated to fund the construction of the John Hancock Student Village. This transformational complex encompasses Agganis Arena, the University’s Fitness and Recreation Center, residence halls, and the Track and Tennis Center.
Prior to Boston University, Lynch served for three years as Director of Athletic Development and later as Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Miami (FL), with leading roles in two capital fundraising campaigns. Lynch also worked at Union College (Schenectady, NY) on the baseball coaching staff and in the development and alumni relations office.
Lynch graduated from Rollins College in 1990 with a B.A. in Political Science. A collegiate All-American, he led the Tars to two NCAA Tournaments and to the 1989 College World Series. He played professionally in the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox organizations before earning an M.S. in Educational Administration from the University at Albany.
A Binghamton, NY native, Lynch's baseball career earned him selection into both the Section IV Hall of Fame in his hometown and the Athletic Hall of Fame at his alma mater.