Bowers, Sullivan Named Senior Associate Athletic Directors; Kane, Kelley Promoted
July 30, 2019 | General, Student-Athlete Academic Support Service
BOSTON - Boston University's Department of Athletics will welcome two new members to its senior staff in August with Kristie Bowers and Brendan Sullivan filling senior associate director of athletics roles, as announced by director of athletics Drew Marrochello on Tuesday.
Bowers most recently served as the assistant athletic director for student-athlete support and development at Binghamton University while Sullivan comes to BU from the College of the Holy Cross, where he was the chief operating officer for the Crusaders in a senior associate position.
In addition, Brittany Kane has been promoted to senior associate director of athletics and Brian Kelley has been elevated to associate director of athletics for marketing & communications.
"We are incredibly fortunate to add Kristie and Brendan to our administrative staff," said Marrochello. "They both have exhibited a dedication to improving the student-athlete experience at their previous institutions while furthering their own careers. It's been a pleasure getting to know Brendan over the past few years within the Patriot League, and the more we learned about Kristie, the more we realized how well she would fit here at BU."
Bowers has spent the past eight years on staff at Binghamton and received a doctorate of philosophy in community and public affairs from the school in 2017. In her most recent role, she served as the sport administrator for women's tennis and the academic advisor for several other programs. Bowers was the co-leader of the Bearcats' athletics leadership institute, Explore, Engage and B You, and managed a support budget for tutoring and mentoring as part of the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund.
She was the faculty of record for an academic internship program focused on developing peer mentors to encourage academic skill building within at-risk student-athletes and offered monthly programming to support academic and career development to Binghamton's 400 student-athletes.
After starring in goal on Binghamton's soccer team, Bowers went on to spend five years as an assistant coach for the team following four years in North Carolina, where she earned her master's degree and coached soccer at Western Carolina before serving as a high school science teacher.
As a student-athlete, Bowers helped the Bearcats earn their first conference title and NCAA berth as a sophomore before finishing fifth in the nation in save percentage the following year. In her first year as an assistant, Bowers' work with the defensive unit translated into seven shutouts and a goals-against average under 1.00.
Bowers earned a bachelor's degree in human development from Binghamton and served on the executive leadership committee, representing the department at both the conference and NCAA levels.
"I would like to thank Drew Marrochello and his staff for providing me this incredible opportunity to be a part of the Boston University community," said Bowers. "I am ecstatic to support an athletic department that has embraced a strong culture of empowering their student-athletes and coaching staffs by providing a first-class experience at a world-class institution. I am truly grateful for my time at Binghamton and for the mentoring afforded to me by the coaches, senior staff and athletic director Patrick Elliott. I look forward to hitting the ground running and getting to know all of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and administrators further in the upcoming days."
Sullivan recently completed his fourth full academic year at Holy Cross and was the department's interim director of athletics from January until June. Initially the Crusaders' associate director of athletics for finance and business, Sullivan was responsible for leading all financial and business operations, with an emphasis on strategic financial planning, optimum resource allocation, programmatic fiscal strength, budget forecasting and proper monitoring of financial process and procedures. The Holy Cross football, basketball and softball programs were all under his supervision and he also oversaw strength & conditioning, sports medicine and equipment.
Sullivan came to Holy Cross from Stonehill College, where he served as the director of athletics for six and a half years. Under his direction, Stonehill finished in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for six straight years, including a run of three-straight Presidents' Cup titles from 2009-2010 through 2011-2012. The Skyhawks were also successful in the classroom under Sullivan's leadership, twice receiving the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, while achieving an academic success rate of 97 percent or better every year.
During Sullivan's time as the director of athletics, Stonehill won 29 Northeast-10 Conference championships, including a league-best four in 2012-2013, and earned 45 NCAA Tournament bids, including an impressive nine during the 2009-2010 academic year. Prior to taking over as Stonehill's director of athletics in July 2008, Sullivan served two years as associate director of athletics after three years as the department's assistant director of athletics. He designed and implemented the Stonehill Leadership Academy, which educates its student-athletes on leadership, self-branding and communications skills.
Sullivan also founded and established Stonehill's Varsity Club, a dues-based alumni association with membership of over 200 alumni members and a director's board of 30 alumni volunteers. He assisted in the creation and implementation of a capital campaign that raised 2.5-million dollars towards the construction of W.B. Mason Stadium.
A 2001 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance, Sullivan went on to receive a master's degree in business administration from Boston College in 2010.
"I am extremely grateful to join a prestigious university such as Boston University that espouses academic inquiry and achievement while also placing integral value on the athletic co-curricular involvement of our students," said Sullivan "I would like to thank director of athletics Drew Marrochello and the entire search committee for providing me this opportunity. I look forward to working alongside our coaches and staff for the benefit of our student-athletes in order to enhance their success and experience."
For the past four years, Kane has been the Terriers' director of administrative operations and the executive assistant to the director of athletics. She joined the department in 2012 and also spent two years as the assistant business manager.
Kelley just completed his 14th year at BU and his sixth on senior staff, having been promoted to assistant director of athletics for communications in 2013.
"Brittany has proven to be an integral and efficient manager for the entire department, resulting in this well-deserved promotion." said Marrochello. "Brian has ably managed our media relations for well over a decade and will now take on an oversight role for the entire marketing communications unit."
Boston University Athletics - Senior Staff
Drew Marrochello – Director of Athletics
Kristie Bowers – Senior Associate Director of Athletics/SWA
Brittany Kane – Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Brendan Sullivan – Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Aaron Aaker – Associate Director of Athletics/Compliance & Strategic Planning
Glenn Hofmann – Associate Director of Athletics/Director of Athletic Development
Brian Kelley – Associate Director of Athletics/Marketing & Communications
Phil DeCarlo – Assistant Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Support Services
Bowers most recently served as the assistant athletic director for student-athlete support and development at Binghamton University while Sullivan comes to BU from the College of the Holy Cross, where he was the chief operating officer for the Crusaders in a senior associate position.
In addition, Brittany Kane has been promoted to senior associate director of athletics and Brian Kelley has been elevated to associate director of athletics for marketing & communications.
"We are incredibly fortunate to add Kristie and Brendan to our administrative staff," said Marrochello. "They both have exhibited a dedication to improving the student-athlete experience at their previous institutions while furthering their own careers. It's been a pleasure getting to know Brendan over the past few years within the Patriot League, and the more we learned about Kristie, the more we realized how well she would fit here at BU."
Bowers has spent the past eight years on staff at Binghamton and received a doctorate of philosophy in community and public affairs from the school in 2017. In her most recent role, she served as the sport administrator for women's tennis and the academic advisor for several other programs. Bowers was the co-leader of the Bearcats' athletics leadership institute, Explore, Engage and B You, and managed a support budget for tutoring and mentoring as part of the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund.
She was the faculty of record for an academic internship program focused on developing peer mentors to encourage academic skill building within at-risk student-athletes and offered monthly programming to support academic and career development to Binghamton's 400 student-athletes.
After starring in goal on Binghamton's soccer team, Bowers went on to spend five years as an assistant coach for the team following four years in North Carolina, where she earned her master's degree and coached soccer at Western Carolina before serving as a high school science teacher.
As a student-athlete, Bowers helped the Bearcats earn their first conference title and NCAA berth as a sophomore before finishing fifth in the nation in save percentage the following year. In her first year as an assistant, Bowers' work with the defensive unit translated into seven shutouts and a goals-against average under 1.00.
Bowers earned a bachelor's degree in human development from Binghamton and served on the executive leadership committee, representing the department at both the conference and NCAA levels.
"I would like to thank Drew Marrochello and his staff for providing me this incredible opportunity to be a part of the Boston University community," said Bowers. "I am ecstatic to support an athletic department that has embraced a strong culture of empowering their student-athletes and coaching staffs by providing a first-class experience at a world-class institution. I am truly grateful for my time at Binghamton and for the mentoring afforded to me by the coaches, senior staff and athletic director Patrick Elliott. I look forward to hitting the ground running and getting to know all of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and administrators further in the upcoming days."
Sullivan recently completed his fourth full academic year at Holy Cross and was the department's interim director of athletics from January until June. Initially the Crusaders' associate director of athletics for finance and business, Sullivan was responsible for leading all financial and business operations, with an emphasis on strategic financial planning, optimum resource allocation, programmatic fiscal strength, budget forecasting and proper monitoring of financial process and procedures. The Holy Cross football, basketball and softball programs were all under his supervision and he also oversaw strength & conditioning, sports medicine and equipment.
Sullivan came to Holy Cross from Stonehill College, where he served as the director of athletics for six and a half years. Under his direction, Stonehill finished in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents' Cup standings for six straight years, including a run of three-straight Presidents' Cup titles from 2009-2010 through 2011-2012. The Skyhawks were also successful in the classroom under Sullivan's leadership, twice receiving the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, while achieving an academic success rate of 97 percent or better every year.
During Sullivan's time as the director of athletics, Stonehill won 29 Northeast-10 Conference championships, including a league-best four in 2012-2013, and earned 45 NCAA Tournament bids, including an impressive nine during the 2009-2010 academic year. Prior to taking over as Stonehill's director of athletics in July 2008, Sullivan served two years as associate director of athletics after three years as the department's assistant director of athletics. He designed and implemented the Stonehill Leadership Academy, which educates its student-athletes on leadership, self-branding and communications skills.
Sullivan also founded and established Stonehill's Varsity Club, a dues-based alumni association with membership of over 200 alumni members and a director's board of 30 alumni volunteers. He assisted in the creation and implementation of a capital campaign that raised 2.5-million dollars towards the construction of W.B. Mason Stadium.
A 2001 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance, Sullivan went on to receive a master's degree in business administration from Boston College in 2010.
"I am extremely grateful to join a prestigious university such as Boston University that espouses academic inquiry and achievement while also placing integral value on the athletic co-curricular involvement of our students," said Sullivan "I would like to thank director of athletics Drew Marrochello and the entire search committee for providing me this opportunity. I look forward to working alongside our coaches and staff for the benefit of our student-athletes in order to enhance their success and experience."
For the past four years, Kane has been the Terriers' director of administrative operations and the executive assistant to the director of athletics. She joined the department in 2012 and also spent two years as the assistant business manager.
Kelley just completed his 14th year at BU and his sixth on senior staff, having been promoted to assistant director of athletics for communications in 2013.
"Brittany has proven to be an integral and efficient manager for the entire department, resulting in this well-deserved promotion." said Marrochello. "Brian has ably managed our media relations for well over a decade and will now take on an oversight role for the entire marketing communications unit."
Boston University Athletics - Senior Staff
Drew Marrochello – Director of Athletics
Kristie Bowers – Senior Associate Director of Athletics/SWA
Brittany Kane – Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Brendan Sullivan – Senior Associate Director of Athletics
Aaron Aaker – Associate Director of Athletics/Compliance & Strategic Planning
Glenn Hofmann – Associate Director of Athletics/Director of Athletic Development
Brian Kelley – Associate Director of Athletics/Marketing & Communications
Phil DeCarlo – Assistant Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Support Services
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