Josh Barnes has been named Interim Vice President for Institutional Excellence, following the announcement of Lisa Knox as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Deputy Athletics Director. Barnes previously served as Director of Strategy & Operations in the Office of Institutional Excellence.
INSTITUTIONAL EXCELLENCE
Barnes has been at Clemson since 2012 and served in multiple roles in Student Affairs until his move to Institutional Excellence in 2023. In Student Affairs, Barnes was director of the Center for Student Leadership and Engagement and senior associate director of campus life, where he oversaw implementation of orientation programming, student transitions, leadership and development.
Over the past three years, he served as the student services excellence lead before broadening responsibilities within the division, including various roles implementing Clemson Elevate. Prior to Clemson, Barnes began his career in higher education at Newberry College where he worked for five years.
ATHLETICS
Director of Athletics Graham Neff announced a restructuring of the athletic department’s leadership team designed to position Clemson for the future of collegiate athletics. The reconfiguration follows the recent departure of former Deputy Athletics Director Kevin White, who was named Director of Athletics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Knox will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer and Senior Deputy Athletics Director, while Natalie Honnen, Eric Sabin and Amanda Gray Richardson will serve as Deputy Athletics Directors.
Knox has spent 16 years at Clemson, most recently serving as Vice President of the Office of Institutional Excellence, where she led the execution of the Clemson Elevate strategic plan, advancing priorities in Operational Excellence, Enterprise Risk Management, and Wellbeing.
