UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour today (Feb. 27) announced the appointment of Lynn Holleran as senior associate athletic director for administration. Holleran brings nearly 30 years of University and athletic administrative experience to Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA).
In her role at Penn State, Holleran will work closely with Barbour and other members of the senior executive team on the day-to-day administrative operations of Penn State’s broad-based and highly successful 31-sport athletic program. Holleran will manage several of the department’s internal units and functions, including compliance and human resources. She also will serve as ICA’s primary liaison with the Morgan Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes, the University’s office of General Counsel and the Office of the Faculty Athletics Representative.
A Pennsylvania native, Holleran comes to Penn State after 12 years at the University of Minnesota, most recently as the director of the McNamara Academic Center for Student-Athletes, since August 2010. She will begin her duties at Penn State in late March.
“We are elated to have Lynn joining our team,” Barbour stated. “Lynn is a talented and seasoned administrator who brings an outstanding breadth of experience to Penn State, including extensive campus involvement outside of athletics. She has a high level of experience with the management and internal functions of a broad-based athletic department, and working with various constituencies within the department and central administration. Lynn will be an outstanding fit for Penn State, and our student-athletes, coaches and the community will really enjoy working with her.”
“I’m excited about the opportunity to join a great academic institution with a long history of athletic success,” Holleran said. “Penn State is an institution with a steadfast commitment to the student-athlete experience, and I’m proud to be a part of that.
“I'm also eager to join an amazing team with proven leadership,” Holleran added. "It’s an honor to have the opportunity to work with Sandy Barbour and the outstanding team of people at Penn State. I’m thrilled to join the Penn State family.”
During her four-plus years as director of the McNamara Academic Center, Holleran supervised an academic support operation that served approximately 750 student-athletes in 25 varsity programs. Under Holleran’s direction, she helped improve Minnesota’s Academic Progress Rates (APR) to their highest numbers in University history, with the overall 2012-13 APR score ranking No. 4 among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. Her efforts also resulted in the highest cumulative grade-point averages and graduation rates for the Golden Gophers’ programs.
Holleran began her 12-year affiliation with the University of Minnesota in 2003, serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the President. In her role, she assisted the University president, vice president and chief of staff with strategic planning and supervision of several areas, including intercollegiate athletics, as well as the day-to-day President’s Office operations and budget. Holleran also was a member of a cross-functional team that managed the logistics of planning and launch of the new TCF Bank Stadium on campus.
Prior to Minnesota, Holleran was a senior associate athletic director and the senior woman administrator at Boston College from 1993-2003. She was the primary administrator for 12 programs and had oversight of compliance, policy development/analysis and Title IX adherence for all 31 programs among her responsibilities.
Holleran began her career in intercollegiate athletics at Northwestern University, serving as the assistant director of academic and student services from 1986-93, while attending graduate school.
Born in Pittsburgh, Holleran earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and business management at Beloit College, where she was a standout basketball, soccer and softball student-athlete. She was inducted into Beloit’s Hall of Honor in 1997. Holleran earned a master’s degree in management/organizational behavior and marketing from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.