March 14, 2007
DAVIS, Calif. - Nona Richardson, who has 28 years of intercollegiate athletics experience as a student-athlete, coach and administrator and is currently the Associate Director of Athletics at Ball State University, has been named Senior Associate Athletics Director at UC Davis, it was announced on Wednesday.
Director of Athletics Greg Warzecka made the announcement of Richardson to replace Pam Gill-Fisher, who retired from athletics administration in December in order to return to her faculty appointment. Richardson brings extensive experience to her new role at UC Davis which will include overseeing compliance, student services and sports medicine programs, as well as sport supervision.
"Nona is a valuable and tremendous addition to the intercollegiate athletics program at UC Davis," said Warzecka. "Her background, skills and abilities combine to make her an ideal fit for our program. We're looking forward to her contributions as we finish our reclassification process and begin a new era as an NCAA Division I member."
Richardson has experienced intercollegiate athletics from a variety of roles, most recently during her tenure at Ball State University, a Division I institution located in Muncie, Ind., where she has also served as the senior woman administrator. She has overseen daily operations for sports medicine, and strength and conditioning while also supervising seven sports, including women's basketball and women's volleyball.
Her contributions at Ball State have also included student-athlete services, community outreach programming, career development education, student-athlete awards, and other related areas while also serving as a Title IX and gender equity resource.
While at Ball State, she also coordinated the "Cardinal Celebration... Celebrating the Legacy of Women's Athletics" which brought back more than 200 former student-athletes to the campus. The celebration recognized the achievements and contributions of female student-athletes who competed prior to 1985 and helped establish the foundation for current student-athletes.
Prior to Ball State, Richardson was Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator at Valparaiso University in Indiana for seven years where she served in similar capacities while also serving as Compliance Coordinator for the 18-sport athletics program. Her duties also involved student-athlete eligibility, event management and other key administrative responsibilities.
Richardson has served on numerous committees throughout her distinguished career, including the NCAA Division I Volleyball Committee (2000-02) and Division I Volleyball Officials Sub-Committee (2001-02). At Ball State she has been a committee member for Retention Task Force (2005-06), Campus Review Team (2005) and the Dean of the Division of Student Affairs (2005). At Valparaiso, she chaired the Eastgate Planning Committee (2000-02) and Campus Planning and Space Allocation Sub-Committee (1999-2002). Richardson has also been a member of committees for the Mid-Continent Conference and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), the latter for which she also served as a board member.
"My entire athletic career has been at the Division I level which has immersed me in the rules and regulations relative to the dynamics of the division," said Richardson. "The experiences that I have gathered on various campuses both private and public have afforded me a wealth of experiences that I hope will enhance the culture of the student-athletes and coaches at UC Davis."
Richardson has presented at several national conferences, is a member of NACWAA and the National Association of Girls and Women in Sports, and has won several awards including NACWAA's Dr. Nell Jackson Award (2000).
Her athletics administrative tenure was preceded by a volleyball coaching career that was highlighted by head coaching positions at Eastern Michigan (1987-95) and Valparaiso (1996-99) and an assistant coaching assignment at Kentucky (1984-87). Richardson was also an assistant coach at the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival in 1991.
Richardson was a standout volleyball player at Michigan State (1978-81) where she was a team co-captain, MVP and a member of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) All-State team.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Michigan State in 1983 and her Master of Arts and Liberal Studies in Human Behavior and Society from Valparaiso University in 1999.
Richardson will begin her new position at UC Davis on April 1.
