McCormack Sport Management Dept. Announces First Fall 2025 McCormack Scholar

The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management is proud to announce the first fall 2025 McCormack Scholar: USA Gymnastics President and CEO Li Li Leung ’03 MS/MBA. Leung is the first program alumnus to serve as a distinguished McCormack Scholar; she earned both a master’s degree in sport management and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Launched in 2024, the McCormack Scholars program was established to honor and engage accomplished sports industry leaders and innovators. Each year, McCormack Scholars are invited to campus for a structured day of impact. Participants share their professional story for the McCormack Archive, meet with faculty to spotlight and discuss research relevant to the scholars’ interests, and give a keynote lecture to students and faculty on leadership, or any other topic for which the scholar feels a passion.

The program was developed by Nicole Melton, PhD, Isenberg’s associate dean of undergraduate programs (and former department chair and professor); Will Norton, director of graduate programs and senior lecturer; and Jeffrey Pollack, professor of practice. It is administered by Norton and Pollack as part of their popular graduate course “ProSem,” which is a dynamic professional development seminar conducted for McCormack master’s degree students and dual-degree MBA students.

“We are excited and honored to welcome Li Li back to the Isenberg School of Management for what should be an inspiring day of mentorship for our graduate students,” noted Norton. “Li Li’s trailblazing success story is one we can all learn from. She represents the best of what the McCormack Department strives for in developing the future leaders of our industry.”

Industry leaders invited to participate in the McCormack Scholars program have a proven track record of accomplishment, including (but not limited to) at least 10 years of impactful senior leadership, demonstrated innovation and creativity in their work, game-changing entrepreneurial achievement, and passion for advancing the sports industry. Scholars must also demonstrate a commitment to equity, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability. 

Leung will visit campus September 16.

About Li Li Leung

Li Li Leung became the president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics in March 2019. Since that time, she has led the organization through a cultural transformation that has opened a new chapter for the sport in the U.S. cultural mainstream and re-established USAG as a leader in the Olympic and international gymnastics movements.

With a new board of directors, new mission statement, and set of organizational values that prioritizes athlete safety, USAG’s transformation under Leung has been rooted in “The Three P’s” of new people, priorities, and policies. Leung led the establishment of USAG’s Athlete Bill of Rights in December 2020, a movement that was among the first of its kind in sport. USAG now provides comprehensive health and wellness resources for its members and has some of the most robust mandatory and optional training for parents, coaches, and adult members in sports.

Among recognition received since joining USA Gymnastics, Leung was named a Sports Business Journal “Power Player” in 2020 and an SBJ Gamechanger in 2024, was recognized on the 2023 A100 list honoring the most impactful Asian Pacific Leaders, and was named a 2025 WISE Woman of the Year. As a member of FIG’s Safeguarding Commission, she has been a lead presenter at the 2022 and 2023 “Our Safe Sport Journey” symposia held in conjunction with the FIG Artistic World Championships.

Prior to joining USAG, Leung most recently served as a vice president at the National Basketball Association (NBA), where she was responsible for building, leading, negotiating, and managing key partner relationships around the world. Prior to that, she was managing director at the global sports management firm Helios Partners.

Leung began her gymnastics career at age 7 and was a member of the U.S. junior national training team, representing the U.S. at the 1988 Junior Pan American Games. She was a member of the four-time Big Ten champion University of Michigan gymnastics team and was an NCAA Championships competitor. While earning graduate degrees at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Leung served as a volunteer assistant coach for the UMass women’s gymnastics team.

On the heels of an unprecedented run of success at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which included women’s gymnastics team gold and men’s gymnastics team bronze medals, Leung will step down as president and CEO of USA Gymnastics at the end of this calendar year.