Donna (Mulhern) Woodruff, the executive associate director of athletics at Stony Brook, has been named a recipient of the 2011 National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Administrator of the Year award.
The Administrator of the Year Award, sponsored by Jostens, is presented annually to NACWAA members for significant contributions made as administrators in intercollegiate athletics. Selected by the NACWAA Awards Committee, top nominees are awarded from seven categories: NCAA Division I FBS, FCS, and Division I; NCAA Division II; NCAA Division III; NAIA/NJCAA/Community College and Association/Organization. Woodruff and the other winners will be honored Oct. 11 at the Administrator of the Year Dinner held at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh.
"I want to congratulate Donna on her much deserved recognition," Stony Brook Director of Athletics Jim Fiore said. "Donna runs the daily operation of our department and in that role she has proven to be a spectacular resource to our University community, our staff and our student-athletes. Her loyalty to Stony Brook, work ethic, leadership and her ability to continually go above and beyond what has been asked of her is unprecedented. She is a rising star in this industry and will make an incredible Division I athletics director one day."
Woodruff, who was promoted to executive associate director of athletics in July 2010, currently serves as Fiore's chief of staff and as a member of the senior management team, she manages the daily operation of Stony Brook's athletics department. She oversees student-athlete development, compliance, facilities & events operations while also supervising the men's and women's basketball, men's soccer and women's lacrosse teams.
This past athletic year Woodruff has had facility project oversight responsibility for Stony Brook's $3 million University Track project, $1.2 million Joe Nathan Baseball Field project and the $4.3 million Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center projected, all of which have started or have been completed in 2010-11. She also has served as a committee member for the 2011 NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship, the America East Conference Championship and Competition committee and the search for the Stony Brook University Provost, as selected by President Samuel L. Stanley, Jr., M.D. Woodruff also completed the prestigious Sports Management Institute Program, Class of 2011.
Woodruff arrived at Stony Brook in April 2004 after serving for seven years as an athletic administrator at both Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania. The former director of administrative services for athletics at Villanova, Woodruff represented its 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 supported 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, serving 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 and lacrosse coach at Penn in August of 1991. She stayed 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 currently serves as a member of the University of Pennsylvania Field Hockey Alumnae Board.
Woodruff earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1990 from the University of Pennsylvania where she earned All-America 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 also from the University of Pennsylvania.
