Bucknell University Athletics
Maisha Palmer Named Bucknell Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator
9/14/2010 8:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 14, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Maisha Palmer, an assistant director of championships at the NCAA and a former scholar-athlete at Saint Joseph's University, has been named associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator at Bucknell, director of athletics and recreation John Hardt announced today. In addition to her duties at the NCAA, Palmer also has Division I athletics administration experience at Rutgers and Vanderbilt.
"I am thrilled about this opportunity to join the athletics department at Bucknell University," said Palmer. "Bucknell has a rich tradition of academic and athletic excellence, and the entire staff displays a passion for delivering a positive experience for all of its student-athletes."
"I am very pleased to welcome Maisha to the Bison Athletics family," said Hardt. "As a former Division I student-athlete herself, and as an administrator experienced in dealing with many of the complex issues regarding student-athlete welfare, Maisha's credentials make her a great fit. Bucknell Athletics takes pride in being a student-centered operation, and I look forward to Maisha taking on a leadership role in these important endeavors."
At Bucknell, Palmer will be a key member of the department's leadership team and will serve as the University's Title IX coordinator while overseeing many of the department's student-athlete welfare priorities including gender equity and minority opportunity initiatives. In addition, she will have a sport supervisory role and be an important liaison with the Bucknell faculty and deans as well as with the offices of compliance services, admissions and financial aid.
Palmer comes to Bucknell from the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, where she had served as an assistant director of championships since 2008. In that role she worked with individual coaches and administrators, coaching bodies, sport committees and site hosts for various NCAA Championship events. Palmer was also the sport leader for swimming and diving, providing direction to NCAA staff on issues pertaining to that sport, and she was a member of the USA Swimming and USA Diving Board of Directors.
Prior to her stint at the NCAA, Palmer spent three years at Rutgers, where she was an athletic academic advisor and tutoring coordinator. In that capacity she served as an advisor to student-athletes while communicating with faculty and deans on academic and social issues. Palmer monitored student-athletes' academic progress and coordinated tutoring when necessary. She also served as Rutgers' CHAMPS/Life Skills and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) advisor, while also sitting on the Rutgers Diversity Council, RU Safe and the Bias Prevention, LGBT and Judicial Affairs committees. While at Rutgers, Palmer also served on the NCAA Division I Track and Field Committee and the Big East Cross Country and Track and Field Committee.
In 2004-05, Palmer served as academic counselor for student-athletes at Vanderbilt, where she worked closely with the football and men's basketball programs.
Palmer is a 2000 graduate of Saint Joseph's, where she captained the track and field team and earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship based on her contributions both on the track and in the classroom. She later spent three seasons as an assistant track and field coach at Saint Joe's while also teaching sixth-grade social studies and science at the Waldron Mercy Academy in Merion, Pa.
In 2005, Palmer received her master's of education degree in sport and recreation administration from Temple University.
Palmer is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Women's Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) and the National Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Females.
Bucknell is a highly-selective, privately endowed liberal arts institution in Central Pennsylvania with an enrollment of 3,583 undergraduate students. Bison student-athletes compete in 27 intercollegiate sports at the Division I level. The University is a charter member of the Patriot League and has won the league's all-sports championship in 16 of the 20 years it has been contested, including 12 of the last 13. Bucknell ranks fifth all-time in the number of Academic All-Americans and annually ranks in the top 10 nationally in student-athlete graduation rates and Academic Performance Rate (APR), according to the NCAA.
