Suzanne R. Coffey
Member, Board of Advisors

Suzanne R. Coffey was appointed director of athletics at Amherst College in August 2006. Prior to her appointment at Amherst, Coffey was an associate professor of physical education, director of athletics and chair of the department of physical education at Bates College from May 1991 to July 2006. Coffey’s professional experience includes serving as a member of the coaching staffs at Bowdoin College and the University of New Hampshire. 

In 2005, Coffey’s peers recognized her as the Division III Northeast Region Athletics Director of the Year. Coffey was also named the NACWAA National Administrator of the Year for Division III in 2001-2002. In 1999, Ms. Coffey was named a Sport Ethics Fellow with the Institute for International Sport. Coffey is also a member of the advisory panel of experts with the Institute’s Center for Sports Parenting. Coffey received the Institute for International Sport's Frank W. Keaney Award in May 2002, recognizing her "commitment to the scholar-athlete ideal."

She has been active in NCAA governance with more than a decade of committee service and was recently named to the NCAA’s Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee. Coffey’s four years on the NCAA's Management Council (2001-2005) included her election as chair of the Council in 2004. Coffey has also served as a member of the NCAA's Executive Committee. She was appointed to concurrent terms on the Division III Budget Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, the Championships Committee and the Management Council's Subcommittee on Playing and Practice Seasons. Coffey has similarly served the Association as a member of the NCAA Management Council's Administrative Review Subcommittee and the Academic Issues Subcommittee. From 1997-2003 she was the chair of the Division III Interpretations and Legislation Committee. In 1998 Coffey completed a five-year term as a member of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championships Committee. With regard to regional governance, Coffey has served as the chair of the New England Small College Athletics Conference and as a member of the NESCAC executive committee of athletics directors.

Ms. Coffey is a doctoral candidate in public policy at the University of Southern Maine’s Edmund Muskie School of Public Service. She holds an M.A. in public policy from the Muskie School and a B.A. in studio art from the University of New Hampshire.