College of Wooster names Holleran new athletic director
Lynn Holleran has been selected as The College of Wooster’s director of athletics and physical education following a national search, the school announced on Jan. 3. Holleran will begin her role at the college on Jan. 8.
Reporting to the interim vice president for student affairs, Holleran will serve as the senior administrator for Wooster’s NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletics program, contributing to strategic planning, organizational change management, equity-minded practices, program innovation, advancement initiatives and the development of student-athletes.
“It is a pleasure to join our campus community in welcoming Lynn Holleran to The College of Wooster,” President Anne McCall said. “As a national leader in higher education athletics who is returning to her Div. III student-athlete roots, she brings a career-long commitment to excellence. Under Lynn’s student-focused leadership, our students will thrive athletically, academically and in their own leadership development. I look forward to working with her as a champion for our student-athletes.”
Holleran arrives in Wooster following nearly eight years at Penn State, where her tenure included 4 1/2 years as deputy athletic director for 31 sports programs, over 800 student-athletes and 325 employees. Among her chief duties, Holleran oversaw strategic plan implementation within the department and aligned it with Penn State’s overall strategic plan. Additionally, Holleran developed onboarding and offboarding procedures for all department employees and was an integral part of creating Name Image Likeness education, policies and procedures.
“I am thrilled and grateful to become a part of the (Wooster) community,” Holleran said. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to President McCall and the entire search committee for extending this incredible opportunity to me. My experience as a Div. III student-athlete has instilled in me a profound appreciation for the value of a liberal arts education and the educational benefits that come from participating in athletics.
“It is an honor to join an institution with such a remarkable academic reputation and a strong history of successfully graduating student-athletes while excelling in sports.”
Prior to becoming deputy athletic director at Penn State, Holleran provided executive leadership and oversight of human resources, compliance, risk management and conduct within athletics as senior associate athletic director.
Academics is Holleran’s true passion, as it enables her to combine her love for education and leadership. She led the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Academic Center for Student-Athletes for more than five years. As director, Holleran and her team developed a comprehensive academic support unit that provided academic counseling, student development and career advising to 750 student-athletes across 25 NCAA Div. I sports.
Under Holleran’s leadership, academic success and graduation rates increased across the board. She developed a consistent set of policies to effectively govern all unit operations with a primary focus on integrity, consistency, fairness and accountability, and the Academic Progress Rates scores improved to the best numbers in program history.
Holleran transitioned back to academics after seven years as deputy chief of staff in Minnesota’s Office of the President. While serving as deputy chief of staff, Holleran played a lead role in bringing an on-campus venue to reality for Minnesota’s football team. She oversaw the NCAA 10-year certification process and was selected to serve on the task force for academic support and performance for student-athletes to examine key issues surrounding academic outcomes and the coordination and delivery of academic support services.
Earlier in her career, Holleran gained experience in areas of sport oversight, compliance, policy development and analysis, and Title IX gender equity as a senior administrator at Boston College. Holleran’s career started at Northwestern University, where she was assistant director of academic and student services.
Holleran earned a master’s degree in management, organizational behavior and marketing from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern and was an NCAA Div. III student-athlete while earning a bachelor’s degree in economics at Beloit College.
At Beloit, Holleran was a three-sport standout, earning four All-Midwest Conference honors as a center fielder, three all-conference laurels in basketball and was an all-state selection in soccer. Holleran was inducted into Beloit’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 1997.
Kevin Smith is director of athletic communication at The College of Wooster.
