Jana Woodson is the Deputy Athletic Director for External Operations at Tulane University, a position she assumed in the spring of 2021 after joining the athletics staff in April 2017. In her role, she oversees all external operations, including development, marketing, ticket services, strategic communications, creative services, broadcasting, and the Learfield IMG partnership. She also serves as the sport administrator for bowling, beach volleyball, and men’s and women’s tennis.
Since joining Tulane, Woodson has played a key role in driving significant growth, including tripling the department’s licensing revenue and overseeing a 163% increase in football season ticket sales from 2019 to 2021. By the 2023 season, new football season ticket sales had grown more than 700%.
Before Tulane, Woodson spent over two years at Rice University as Associate Athletics Director for Marketing, helping the Owls achieve a 32% increase in season ticket revenue and notable growth in attendance and sales. She also served as Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing and Fan Development at the University of Richmond from 2006 to 2014, where she oversaw marketing, promotions, ticket operations, and spirit squads, achieving substantial ticket revenue growth. Woodson began her career at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, advancing from Promotions Coordinator to Senior Director of Marketing and Promotions.
She is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) and the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletics Administrators (NACWAA). A native of Coffeyville, Kansas, Woodson earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from the University of Kansas in 2001 and an MBA from UMKC in 2003. She is married to Mike Woodson, who also works at Tulane University in the School of Medicine.
