Assumption University has established the Larry Lucchino Institute for the Study of Sports, a new academic program backed by a multimillion-dollar investment from the Lucchino Family Foundation and named for the longtime Red Sox president who died in 2024. The Worcester university has tapped Dr. Charles Steinberg, president of the WooSox, to serve as the institute's inaugural director, and the program will begin awarding renewable $4,000 annual scholarships to incoming Lucchino Scholars starting next fall.
The announcement, first reported by Boston.com, frames the institute as an effort to draw students with qualities associated with Lucchino and to inspire community improvement that extends beyond the playing field. Those Lucchino Scholars will be eligible for up to $16,000 over four years, though the total remains subject to Assumption University's policy capping total institutional scholarship funding at $45,000 annually per student. The institute will also offer mentorship and internship opportunities, a lecture series, panel discussions, and an introductory multidisciplinary seminar examining the impact of sports across nearly every field, according to the Boston.com report.
A WooSox Connection Decades in the Making
Steinberg worked alongside Lucchino for 45 years and is president of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, the report notes. The two men moved that franchise from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester in 2021, a relocation that made Assumption a founding partner of the WooSox — the university's baseball team played the first game at the club's new home, Polar Park, in May 2021. Steinberg told Boston.com that Assumption's energy and activity impressed the WooSox organization during that partnership.
Assumption President Greg Weiner, who took office in 2022, said the institute can draw students into discussions of enduring questions in Catholic liberal education through their interest in sports, per the same Boston.com account. Weiner also recalled that Lucchino delivered Assumption's 2022 commencement address, calling it the best commencement speech he had ever heard. Lucchino had a longstanding relationship with the university well before the institute bore his name.
From Point Guard to Ballpark Builder
Lucchino's path to sports management began with elite academic and athletic credentials. He played point guard for the Princeton Tigers basketball team alongside future U.S. Senator Bill Bradley on their 1965 NCAA Final Four squad, and he later earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1971 as a classmate of Hillary Clinton, according to background reported by The Washington Post. He went on to serve as president of the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres, overseeing development of new stadiums for both franchises before later overseeing the renovation of Fenway Park during his tenure with the Red Sox, Boston.com reported.
That ballpark-building legacy is one reason advisory board member Janet Marie Smith, now executive vice president of planning and development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, collaborated with Lucchino for more than 30 years on five separate stadium projects — Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Petco Park, the Fenway Park renovations, JetBlue Park, and Polar Park — according to MiLB.com. Front Office Sports has reported that Lucchino was the only known sports executive to hold both MLB World Series rings, earned in 1983 with Baltimore and in 2004, 2007, and 2013 with Boston, and an NFL Super Bowl ring won in 1983 as an executive with the Washington franchise.
Advisory Board Spans Decades of Sportswriting and Front Offices
The institute's advisory board also includes columnist George F. Will and Josh Kraft, Boston.com reported. Fellow board member Dan Shaughnessy, the Boston Globe sports columnist, covered the Orioles for the Baltimore Evening Sun before working for the Washington Star, according to the Boston Business Journal; Shaughnessy went on to cover Lucchino's career through his years running the Red Sox.
David Lucchino, Larry's nephew and the son of his older brother Frank, told Boston.com that his uncle found his way into sports through intellectual curiosity, work ethic, and a competitive nature. The Lucchino Family Foundation, established after Larry Lucchino's death at age 78 in April 2024, has also donated $1 million to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for myeloma research — Lucchino was a three-time cancer survivor, and David Lucchino has multiple myeloma, per Boston.com. Lucchino was a longtime chair of the Jimmy Fund.
Fitting Into Assumption's Growing Sports and Civic Programs
The institute will work with Assumption's Center for Civic Friendship to explore how sports can find commonalities across differences, Boston.com reported. That center has already launched its own Civic Friendship Playbook, which uses sports frameworks and United Nations hate-prevention models to foster civil dialogue among students, according to Assumption University, and the center's work includes fostering civil dialogue. The university has also pursued civic dialogue initiatives.
The new sports institute complements Assumption's existing undergraduate minor in Sport Management and an in-development major in Sports Marketing, according to The Worcester Guardian. Assumption is a higher education institution in Central Massachusetts. The institute's arrival builds on Assumption's partnership with Polar Park, where the university has continued hosting major sports events, including last week's announcement that the quirky barnstorming league Banana Ball will play the Worcester ballpark in 2027.
