Erin McDermott became Harvard’s eighth John D. Nichols ’53 Family Director of Athletics on July 1, 2020.
Under McDermott’s guidance, Harvard has enjoyed one of the most successful periods in Crimson history, while keeping an eye toward the future. In her short time in Cambridge, McDermott has focused on sustaining the Crimson’s success by creating Harvard Athletics’ first-ever strategic action plan, which includes a long-term vision for capital projects.
During her first year with the Crimson in 2020-21, McDermott successfully guided the department through the academic calendar without competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on structure, culture and the future of Harvard Athletics, McDermott announced both an internal and external restructuring and department-wide realignment in the spring of 2021.
This restructuring included the creation of a deputy director of athletics overseeing external operations and a deputy director of athletics for internal operations. In addition, McDermott created new positions in community and team culture, student programming and academic-athletic integration, recreation, communications, student-athlete health and wellness, and worked with the University to create an Athletics Development Team to drive strategies for annual and major gifts to Athletics.
Over the next two years, Harvard made its mark on Division I athletics by winning 19 Ivy League titles and five national championships, helping it post the best back-to-back LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup finishes in school history (No. 36 in 2021-22, No. 41 in 2022-23). The Crimson’s No. 36 ranking in the Directors’ Cup standings was the school’s best since 1993-94.
Harvard continued its upward trajectory in McDermott’s fourth academic year as it finished at No. 29 in the 2023-24 Directors’ Cup standings. The Crimson’s final ranking marked the best performance in school history and was tops among all schools in the Ivy League, state of Massachusetts, New England and FCS. Harvard was impressive from fall to spring, with 10 teams capturing conference titles and five claiming national championships. Equally impressive were the seven student-athletes who won individual national crowns. During the summer of 2024, meanwhile, Harvard athletes -- both former and current -- won a school-record 13 medals, including eight gold, at the Paris Olympics, surpassing the previous best of 12 (1896 Athens). The 13 overall medals and the eight gold medals led all schools in the Ivy, New England and FCS. The Crimson also ranked third among all NCAA programs with 11 medals for Team USA.
Momentum from the Summer Games carried into 2024-25 as Harvard won three national team championships, boasted a pair of individual national titles and claimed 10 conference crowns en route to a No. 34 finish in the Directors’ Cup standings. McDermott also spearheaded the department’s NIL efforts with the launch of the One Crimson Exchange and oversaw the early stages of its strategic action plan with upgrades to Bright-Landry Hockey Center and Harvard Stadium, and the completion of the Harvard Golf Indoor Practice Facility.
McDermott arrived on Harvard’s campus after a seven-year tenure as Director of Athletics and Recreation at the University of Chicago. Under her leadership, the Maroons captured 19 UAA championships, seven NCAA individual event championships and six top-20 finishes in the LEARFIELD Sports Directors’ Cup standings amongst the 450 NCAA Division III institutions. Additionally, 15 Chicago student-athletes were selected as CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, one of the top academic awards in collegiate athletics.
Well-respected by her peers in the collegiate athletic arena, McDermott served on numerous national committees. A member of NACDA, she sat on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) as well as on the Board of Directors for Women Leaders in Sports. While at the University of Chicago, McDermott was one of the recipients of the NACDA Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award. The award highlights the efforts of athletic directors, at all levels, for their commitment and positive contributions to student-athletes, campuses, and surrounding communities.
Prior to her seven years at Chicago, McDermott spent a significant part of her career in the Ivy League at Princeton and Columbia. In her 13 years at Princeton, she climbed the ranks to Deputy Director of Athletics, where she oversaw all internal operations for 38 intercollegiate sports. Before Princeton, McDermott spent three years at Columbia as the Assistant Director for Compliance.
A Division I student-athlete at Hofstra, McDermott was a senior captain of the women’s basketball team and was named the school’s top female senior scholar-athlete as a senior. She graduated from Hofstra with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in international business in 1994 before obtaining her master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts in 1996.
