Erin McDermott became Harvard’s eighth John D. Nichols ’53 Family Director of Athletics on July 1, 2020, overseeing the nation’s largest Division I athletic program and extensive recreational, club and intramural sports programs.
McDermott arrived on Harvard’s campus after a seven-year tenure as Director of Athletics & Recreation at the University of Chicago. Prior to her time at Chicago, McDermott spent a significant part of her career in the Ivy League at Columbia and then at Princeton, eventually becoming the Deputy Director of Athletics at Princeton. McDermott has served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) as well as on the Board of Directors for Women Leaders in College Sports (WLCS).
A Division I women’s basketball student-athlete at Hofstra, McDermott was named the school’s top female senior scholar-athlete. She graduated from Hofstra with a bachelor of business administration degree in international business in 1994 before obtaining her master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts in 1996.