13-year college athletics admissions veteran worked at NCAA, Michigan
Colgate Athletics announced this week the selection of Mary Berdo as the department’s new Associate Director of Athletics.
Berdo will provide administrative oversight for several areas, including the Sports Performance unit, Equipment Services, the Trudy Fitness Center and the Physical Education and Recreation area. In addition, she serves as the sport supervisor for field hockey and men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
“I am thrilled to welcome Mary to our staff,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun ’91, MA’94. “Mary has achieved success at the highest levels at every step of her career. She has great experiences working with Division I student-athletes, coaches and administrators. We are excited to have her on our team and look forward to the level of expertise she brings.”
Promoted by NCAA in 2015
Berdo joined the NCAA national office as an Assistant Director in the Championships and Alliances Department in June 2009. She was promoted to Associate Director in June 2015 and most recently managed championships for Division I women’s soccer (College Cup), Division I men’s swimming and diving, and Division I women’s lacrosse.
Those three championships combine for annual operational budgets of approximately $700,000.
“I am honored to join Colgate University and would like to extend my gratitude to Vice President and Director of Athletics Vicky Chun for the opportunity to serve the first-class coaches, staff and student-athletes that compose the athletic department,” said Berdo. “I am thrilled to become a part of Colgate’s incredible tradition.”
Other NCAA championships managed by Berdo during her NCAA tenure were Division I field hockey, wrestling, volleyball and women’s tennis, Division II softball, Division III women’s basketball and women’s golf, and the multidivisional championship for men’s gymnastics.
“Mary is an exceptional leader and professional,” said NCAA Senior Vice President of Championships and Alliances Joni Comstock. “There are people who create success wherever they go, and Mary is one of them. She has distinguished herself as a well-respected colleague and a poised problem-solver for our sports committees and championship hosts.
“I am excited for her great opportunity at Colgate and will be watching for her continued success.”
Iowa Hoops Star Began Career at Michigan
Before joining the NCAA, Berdo spent five years as Assistant Director of Events and Championships at the University of Michigan. She was the on-site manager for 15 varsity sports and served as assistant tournament director for 10 NCAA and 12 Big Ten championships hosted on the Michigan campus.
Berdo is a native of the southeastern Iowa community of Washington who earned her bachelor’s degree in communication studies in 2001 at the University of Iowa. She added a master’s in sports administration in 2004 at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
She played collegiate basketball at Iowa, helping the Hawkeyes to the 2001 Big Ten tournament championship and automatic NCAA berth. Berdo before that was the first Iowa prep to score 2,000 career points in the five-player era, finishing with 2,206. She later was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame.
“Mary Berdo was an outstanding student-athlete and is now a talented, committed and successful administrator,” said Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, former Director of Athletics at Stanford and Iowa. “I have enjoyed working with Mary. Her experience as an excellent administrator will serve Colgate very well and I expect that she and the Raiders will enjoy great success.”
Berdo is a member of Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) and owns a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification from Purdue University. She is a past member of the USA Field Hockey board of directors and a graduate of the NACWAA Institute for Administrative Advancement.