Miechelle Willis has more than 21 years experience as an intercollegiate athletics administrator, including the last 15 years as Associate/Senior Associate Director of Athletics as a member of the Ohio State University Dept. of Athletics. As a Senior Associate Director, Willis oversees the areas of Student Services and Sports Administration, which includes a team of three Associate Athletic Directors and two Assistant ADs, as well as oversight of 35 varsity sports, including men's and women's basketball.
Willis is a member of the Department of Athletics' executive leadership team, an assignment that allows her leadership, input and guidance responsibilities to a department comprised of more than 300 employees, over 1100 student-athletes and an operation budget of over $115 million.
As a Senior Associate Director, Willis is responsible for the oversight of the administrative and operational activities of 35 Ohio State University sports programs. She has overseen or been a part of the hiring of numerous national-level head coaches, including Jim Foster, who has guided the women's basketball team to five consecutive Big Ten championships, men's basketball coach Thad Matta, 2009 national wrestling coach of the Year Tom Ryan and Ty Tucker, who has guided the men's tennis team to four consecutive Big Ten titles and 10 consecutive NCAA berths.
Willis' administrative efforts include working with all of the student-athlete support service units within the department (medical services, strength & conditioning, compliance, etc.). She also serves as the department's liaison to the Student Athlete Support Services office, which is housed within the university's Office of Academic Affairs.
Tireless, efficient and focused, Willis serves as the Senior Woman Administrator to the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference and has served on numerous national, conference and campus committees. She has served four years on the Division I Management Council and currently serves on the NCAA Division I Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet, as well as the Big Ten Legislative Review Committee. Willis also represented the athletics department on the project planning team for the University's new 500,000 square foot Physical Activities/Recreation/Aquatic Center construction project.
Prior to joining the Ohio State staff, Willis spent seven years at Temple University, during which time the North Philadelphia school was seeking membership in the BIG EAST Conference. She served as the primary administrator for 11 women's varsity sports at Temple and held department-wide responsibilities in the areas of compliance, personnel, student-athlete services, drug and alcohol education and testing.
Willis holds membership in the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA), as well as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
Willis is a 1976 graduate of Grambling State University, where she was a standout track and field student-athlete. She also has her master's from Grambling (1978) and she was pursuing Ph.D. level courses while at Temple.
