After almost three decades of working in athletic administration, Jaci Field decided it was time for a change.
Field, who will earn an Executive Master of Public Administration degree in December, grew up in Cary, North Carolina. Her father worked at IBM until he retired, and her mother was a nurse and nurse educator.
In 1993, Field earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education, exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also took part in track and field.
After college, she worked in various roles including three years on the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), preparing for the 1996 Olympics.
She was brought into ACOG by Charles W. Foster – a track coach at UNC-Chapel Hill and a North Carolina Central University (NCCU) alumnus – and LeRoy T. Walker, Ph.D., who was also a track coach at UNC-Chapel Hill when Field was a student. Walker was the first Black president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and, from 1983 to 1986, chancellor of NCCU.
By 1999, Field returned to UNC-Chapel Hill where she worked in athletic facilities planning and management, as building director for athletic operations and later as an assistant athletic director.
After 23 years as a Tar Heel, however, Field decided it was time for a change.
“I was ready for a challenge, to serve the public in a new way,” Field said.
In fall 2022, she became executive director of the nonprofit Artsplosure, which produces the largest arts festival in the state of North Carolina.
Two years later, in November 2024, she joined the city government of Durham, North Carolina, as division manager for community programs.
With the city, she works on the Keep Durham Beautiful initiative, expanding public art, cultural events including festivals and planting 4,000 trees.
Field is also co-lead on the old Durham Athletic Park feasibility study. The Park will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.
“I grew up in the area and went to baseball games there,” Field said. “My classmates were extras in the movie ‘Bull Durham.’ It’s fun to reimagine the space.”
She found, however, that working in government is a bit different than working for a university or nonprofit.
“There is a little more bureaucracy,” Field said. “There are more levels to the city. Working through those levels is more challenging.”
It was learning how to work through bureaucracy that, in January 2025, brought her to NCCU and its executive master’s program of public administration.
“I wanted a better base of knowledge that would help me serve the city of Durham better,” Field said.
Returning to college has had its challenges.
“Going back as an adult learner is no small task, after having graduated over 30 years ago,” Field said. “Doing that rigorous program while working full time. As a parent with a graduating senior (her son graduated from high school in spring 2025). Juggling all those responsibilities with a full course load is certainly challenging.”