Dr. Bridget Lyons enters her second year as the Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator. She provides leadership and oversight to Barry’s Athletic programs, as well as in the areas of Compliance and Life Skills. Lyons also serves on University committees, the Sunshine State Conference Basketball Tournament committee and the Hall of Fame committee, and teaches in Barry’s M.S. in Sport Management program. This summer she was selected to participate in the inaugural class of the NACWAA/HERS Leadership Enhancement Institute in Denver.

Prior to Barry, Lyons was assistant athletic director at Virginia Commonwealth University from May, 2003 to August 2006. She was responsible for NCAA compliance, oversaw the CHAMPS/LifeSkills program and was the Senior Women’s Administrator. For seven years, she was the director of student-athlete advising for the Rams, overseeing the support services for all student-athletes, including study groups, tutoring and academic workshops. Lyons also served the athletic department as a free-lance photographer at various athletic events.

Lyons, a native of Portsmouth, N.H., graduated from St. Michael’s College, where she played on the varsity field hockey, lacrosse and basketball, in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. After several years as a high school coach in field hockey, basketball and softball, as well as a free lance photographer and writer, she came to VCU in 1989 and served as the assistant field hockey coach for three seasons. She obtained her master’s degree in education from VCU in 1991 and earned her doctorate in education in 2004.

In 1992, she left VCU to become the coordinator for student-athlete support services at the University of New Hampshire. Two years later she moved to Providence College, where she served as the director of academic advising before returning to VCU in 1996.