Jennifer Heppel was appointed as the Patriot League's fifth Commissioner on June 8, 2015 and officially began her tenure on August 1, 2015. Since being appointed, Heppel has elevated the League’s national visibility and strengthened its reputation as one of the premier conferences in college athletics – defined by academic excellence, athletic competitiveness, and a steadfast commitment to the student-athlete experience.
Under Heppel’s leadership, the Patriot League has expanded its footprint and influence. She has positioned Patriot League Football as a premier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference with the addition of associate members University of Richmond, Villanova University and William & Mary.
Heppel has advanced the League’s visibility through the renegotiation of its media and marketing rights, and has prioritized the League’s focus on the student-athlete experience through engagement and student-athlete health and welfare initiatives.
Heppel has led the League’s media and marketing evolution, including a transition of digital media rights to ESPN+ in 2020, establishing the platform as the exclusive digital home for more than 1,000 Patriot League events each year. She also expanded the League’s longstanding partnership with CBS Sports Network (CBSSN) to include greater exposure for women’s regular season and championship events in basketball, lacrosse and soccer. In 2020, she secured a 10-year marketing rights agreement with JMI Sports and later launched the League’s first-ever championship title sponsorship with Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) in 2021.
During her tenure, the Patriot League has earned national recognition for excellence in production and storytelling. The League has been a finalist for the SVG College Sports Media Awards in each of the last eight years, including winning two SVG Awards, highlighted by the 2020 honor for Outstanding Program Series for its "#TitleIXat50” Series.
Heppel has also been a leading national voice in intercollegiate athletics. In January 2025, she was appointed by NCAA President Charlie Baker as one of four Division I conference commissioners to serve on the Division I Decision-Making Working Group, charged with redesigning Division I governance. She has served on numerous NCAA committees and working groups, including the Committee on Academics (2017-2023), Division I Legislative Committee (2019-2023), Officiating Steering Committee (2019-2021), and the NCAA Div. I Working Group on Transfers (2020-21). In 2023, Heppel testified before the U.S. House of Representatives on regulatory issues in collegiate sports and the need for federal action, reinforcing her standing as a respected national thought leader. She has spoken at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, and served as a speaker at the NACDA & Affiliates Convention and the Collegiate Athletics Leadership Symposium (CALS).
A member of the Collegiate Commissioners’ Association (CCA), Heppel served as Chair of the FCS Commissioners’ group (2020-22) and the CCA22 Commissioners’ group (2021-22). She also represented FCS commissioners on the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel (2017-21) and currently serves on the Conference Commissioner Officiating Working Group.
Within the Patriot League, Heppel has led significant governance and culture initiatives that empower student-athletes and advance inclusion. She successfully established student-athlete representation on the League’s Sport Management Committee. She launched the Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission in 2020 and partnered with The Inclusion Playbook to advance its goals. Her focus on student-athlete well-being also includes partnerships with the NCAA Sports Science Institute and the United States Military Academy to host the NCAA-U.S. Department of Defense Grand Alliance Concussion Conference in April 2018.
Before joining the Patriot League, Heppel served as Associate Commissioner for Governance at the Big Ten Conference (2010-2015), where she worked closely with the presidents/chancellors, faculty representatives and athletics administrators on policy initiatives. Heppel also oversaw all aspects of Big Ten men's ice hockey operations, including representing the Big Ten on the boards of the Hockey Commissioners' Association and College Hockey, Inc.
She was first employed at the Big Ten from 1998-2005, including the last four (2001-2005) as the Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Enforcement. In addition to her responsibilities in those areas, she was a member of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament management team, served as the tournament director of the 2005 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament, and was the primary liaison to multiple coaches' and administrative groups, including the Big Ten Administrators Council.
Between her roles at the Big Ten, Heppel served as Associate Athletics Director for Administration at Georgetown University (2005-10), where she was a member of the BIG EAST Conference Championship and Competition Committee (2006-2010) and NCAA Olympic Sports Liaison Committee (2008-2010). She also served as Tournament Manager for the 2006 and 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament games, hosted by Georgetown at the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C.
She began her professional career in athletics administration at the University of Hartford before joining the NCAA National Office as a Membership Services Representative.
Heppel earned her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University (CT), where she was a member of the women's ice hockey team and later received her MBA from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa.