April 2, 2004
Stony Brook, N.Y. -
Donna (Mulhern) Woodruff, former Director of Administrative Services for Athletics at Villanova University, has been named Associate Director of Athletics for Administration and Student-Athlete Development/Senior Women Administrator at Stony Brook University, Director of Athletics Jim Fiore announced Friday morning.
Woodruff will be a member of the Stony Brook Athletics senior management team and will have direct oversight of several administrative units and staff including Compliance and Eligibility, Academic Advising and Student-Athlete Services, while also supervising several men's and women's sports programs.
"After a thorough and extensive search process that was open and inclusive, I am very pleased to add Donna Woodruff to the Stony Brook University community, our Seawolves family and my senior management team," said Fiore. "Donna's hiring signifies another major positive step in the construction of our athletic department. Her wealth of experience will prove very fruitful for current and future student athletes, my entire staff and our university. She combines all of the traits I look for in a leader in intercollegiate athletics - a passion for student-athlete welfare, strong interpersonal skills, a commitment to the overall student-athlete educational experience, and most importantly a core ethos based on family values."
Woodruff arrives at Stony Brook after serving for the last seven years as an athletic administrator at Villanova and Penn.
"I am extremely honored and excited to be joining the Stony Brook family as a member of the Athletic Department's senior management team," said Woodruff. "There is a palpable enthusiasm and commitment to excellence under Jim Fiore's leadership and I look forward to working with the staff, coaches and student-athletes, as well as the larger university and local communities to continuing moving Stony Brook to an even greater level of prominence."
A member of the Villanova athletic department's strategic planning committee, Woodruff represented Villanova's 24 teams on residence life, dining services and financial aid issues while coordinating all athletic camp operations. She was also responsible for the oversight of program operations for men's ice hockey, men's crew, men's volleyball, men's water polo and the athletic department equipment room. As a member of the compliance office staff, she was connected to all day-to-day operations and in charge of specific programs such as the NCAA Special Assistance Fund, the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and drug testing. During her tenure at Villanova, she spearheaded the Athletic Department Internship Program that currently supports 18 full-time interns.
Woodruff was also a member of the Villanova University Community Committee and leader of the Villanova Quality Enhancement team. She served on VU's NCAA Certification Steering Committee, the ECAC Field Hockey Selection Committee and as a representative at the first round of the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament.
Prior to Villanova, Woodruff spent four years as an athletic administrator at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, she served as the contest scheduler for all 34 intercollegiate sports while creating and monitoring contest contracts for each sport. In addition, she collaborated on the coaches' yearly budget process and acted as the department's liaison between facilities and operations personnel, the athletic communications office and the associate athletic directors.
Woodruff began her career as an assistant field hockey coach at Penn in August of 1991. She stayed solely in that position for five years before assuming the dual role of assistant field hockey coach and athletic administrator. Along with her duties at Penn, from 1993-1996 she was a Regional Administrative Director for the U.S. Field Hockey Association where she was directly responsible for overseeing the USFHA Olympic Development Field Hockey program in Pennsylvania, the largest of 11 regions throughout the nation. She managed and organized over 650 athletes, 80 coaches, 15 athletic trainers and 15 site directors for participation in six months of training sessions following a curriculum developed by the United States National Coaching Staff.
Woodruff earned her bachelor of arts degree in English in 1990 from the University of Pennsylvania where she earned All-American status as a field hockey player. She helped lead her team to the Final Four of the 1988 NCAA Championship and remains the only player in school history to be named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. She also was an All-Ivy and Regional All-America pick in lacrosse. She later went on to receive her master of science degree in education in 2000 at her alma mater.
