Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Athletics and Center for Career Advancement Host Alumni Panel
9/29/2026 10:45:00 AM | Student-Athlete Enrichment
Gallery: 2026 Alumni Panel
Bucknell Athletics for the third straight year partnered with the Center for Career Advancement for a student networking event and alumni panel. This year’s event featured six former Bison student-athletes.
The 2026 panelists were Dr. Jennie Welch ‘07 (volleyball), Mike Rush ‘95 (wrestling), Claire Mensi ‘22 (women’s soccer), Ryan Sappington ‘12 (men’s soccer), Darryl Shazier ‘11 (men’s basketball) and Graham Officer ‘95 (men’s lacrosse). Over the course of the panel, the alumni shared their career journeys and offered advice for navigating life after graduation.
Both Bucknell students and student-athletes were encouraged to attend the alumni panel and those who did, took a lot away from the experience.
Bison women’s rower, Claire Eikeboom, feels that the panel was helpful for expanding her network and hearing about different career paths.
“I learned that the transferable skills from being a student-athlete contribute to a successful career,” said Eikeboom, “so emphasize your collaboration, communication and time-management during interviews and applications.”
Bucknell women’s track athlete, Maddie Fowler, also enjoyed the panel despite looking in fields outside of those that were being presented.
“I thought the panelists did a great job describing what post-graduate transition looks like,” said Fowler. “They were also very informative about how to market the skills you earn as a Division I athlete for professional development, which I will be utilizing now as a junior.”
Bison wrestler Noah Mulvaney felt that the alumni panel boosted his confidence.
“All the panel members shared about how amazing and powerful the Buckell network is and that the skills you learn as an athlete, you can take with you after Bucknell to find success,” said Mulvaney. “With that being said my biggest takeaways from the panel are that the skills and values that we learn as athletes are applicable to having success in life after Bucknell Athletics. Also to be genuine, do not network to get something from the person, but to actually build a relationship with them and when you are done connecting, follow up and say thank you. “
Overall, the 2026 alumni panel fueled the current Bison student-athletes with both connections and knowledge on how to utilize their skills to find career success post-graduation, which many of the attendees noted and appreciated.
Here is more information on the panelists:
Dr. Jennie Welch ‘07 (Volleyball)
Dr. Jennie Welch is Director of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia, where she provides strategic leadership for one of the nation’s premier university-based leadership development organizations. She leads the institute’s efforts to strengthen leadership capacity across Georgia through research, education, public service and community engagement while cultivating partnerships across the university, government, nonprofit, business and philanthropic sectors. Prior to joining the Fanning Institute, Jennie served as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI), where she led the organization’s long-term strategy, mission-aligned growth, brand strategy, organizational learning, revenue generation and financial stewardship. Jennie is recognized for helping organizations align strategy, culture and operations to create measurable public value, with expertise spanning leadership development, organizational transformation, human-centered design and measuring public value. She earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Georgia, a Master of Public Administration from the University of Delaware and bachelor’s degrees in Economics and International Relations from Bucknell University, where she was a four-year Division I volleyball student-athlete and two-year captain (2003-2007). Jennie is happily married to a fellow Bucknellian (Kevin Welch ‘04) and they are proud parents to two children (Julianne, 9 and Colin,7). She resides with her family in Athens, GA.
Mike Rush ‘95 (Wrestling)
Michael Rush is a high-performing, senior-level real estate executive and Development Manager for High Real Estate Group, leveraging a robust background in construction project management, strategic finance and energy performance contracting to oversee a portfolio valued well over $300 million. Acting as the primary owner's representative, he manages the entire development lifecycle from initial pro forma underwriting and municipal entitlements through construction and asset handoff across diverse multifamily, industrial, hospitality and retail asset classes. A results-oriented leader, he excels at steering cross-functional consulting teams, architects, and municipal agencies to ensure strict cost control, margin enhancement and on-schedule project delivery. He resides in Lancaster, PA, with his wife, Melissa, and their two teenage children, Allison and Gavin. Michael is a graduate of Bucknell University, where he studied Civil Engineering and was a three-year starter for the wrestling team.
Claire Mensi ‘22 (Women’s Soccer)
Claire Mensi is originally from Somers, New York. She was a part of and captained the Bucknell women's soccer Class of 2022, where she majored in psychology and minored in management. Claire then went directly to Boston College to pursue my MBA, with a focus in Product & Brand Management, while also captaining the women's soccer team for two seasons to complete her eligibility. In October 2024, Claire joined New Balance at its Boston headquarters as part of the Team Sports division on the Planning team, where she currently focuses on creating product and digital assets for our sales group, managing promotional spending and helping merchandise for collegiate partners.
Ryan Sappington, PHD ‘12 (Men’s Soccer)
Ryan Sappington, PhD is an award-winning licensed psychologist, sport psychologist, speaker, author and consultant. He lives in Baltimore, MD with his partner and two kids and works at Loyola University Maryland. Ryan is also founder and owner of Liberated Performance Psychological Services LLC and a contract facilitator for BridgeBetter Consulting (formerly FACE Race Consulting). He earned his PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Maryland and holds three master's degrees (Sport Psychology, Work/Organizational Psychology, and Counseling Psychology). As a psychologist, Ryan's areas of specialization and expertise include athlete mental health and performance, men and masculinities, whiteness, trauma and grief/loss. Over the years, Ryan has received numerous national awards across clinical and sport psychology practice, research, teaching, and social justice advocacy, including the 2023 and 2025 Early Career Professional awards from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and The Society for Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, respectively. While at Bucknell, Ryan was a four-year player on the men's soccer team and majored in psychology and philosophy.
Darryl Shazier ‘11 Men’s Basketball
Darryl recently transitioned from his role as CEO of Jodie, an AI-powered leadership development platform, to launch his own venture. The business is rooted in his personal experience as a lifelong athlete, coach and parent of young athletes, and is focused on helping private sports trainers scale their businesses while delivering meaningful, actionable feedback to parents on their children’s development. Darryl has spent more than a decade working with startups across a range of leadership and commercial roles. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he spent 6 years in various parts of the business. He lives in New York with his wife and two children and remains actively involved in his local community as a basketball coach.
Graham Officer ‘95 (Men’s Lacrosse)
Graham is a Managing Director at Brevan Howard LLC, one of the world's leading global macro absolute return investment managers with $37bn under management. Previously, he spent 21 years at Goldman Sachs in the Global Markets Division, most recently as Head of North American Institutional Equity Derivative Sales. Graham graduated from Bucknell in 1995, where he played four years of varsity lacrosse under Coach Sid Jamieson and was named Academic All-Patriot League in 1994 and 1995. He has enjoyed helping mentor and hire a number of Bucknell student-athletes, staying connected to a place he loved. He and his wife, Megan, live in Connecticut with their two sons, Campbell and Colin.
