Heather Ryan - Deputy Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Experience<br>and Senior Woman Administrator - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Heather Ryan

Title:
Deputy Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Experience
and Senior Woman Administrator
Email:
Phone:
(919) 681-3160

Heather Ryan joined the Duke Athletics staff in 2005 and currently serves as the department’s Deputy Director of Athletics/Student-Athlete Experience & Senior Women Administrator. Ryan is a member of the athletics department’s Executive Staff, the top administrative leadership under Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King. Ryan has oversight of student-athlete facing areas including student-athlete development, nutrition, academic support, behavioral health, sport performance, and athletic medicine. She also serves as the administrator for football.

Ryan’s appointment as Duke’s SWA included an initial five-year term which started in July 2020. As defined by the NCAA, the purpose of the SWA designation is to promote meaningful representation of women in the leadership and management of college sports.

A native of Goodland, Ind., Ryan graduated from Indiana University in 1997 with a degree in sports marketing and management and later earned a master’s degree in college student personnel with an emphasis in counseling and development from Purdue University in 2002. Ryan completed her doctorate degree in educational leadership, policy and human development from N.C. State University in May 2022. The focus of her doctoral research was mental health services in Power 5 college athletics.

(updated 1/10/26)