Longtime athletic administrator Dee Nichols joined the president’s cabinet in Aug. 2023 as PC’s new director of athletics.
Nichols brings decades of leadership experience in intercollegiate athletics to her new post, most recently serving as the senior associate athletic director for operations and senior woman administrator.
Nichols joined the PC Department of Athletics in 2009 as assistant athletic director and quickly established herself as a leader within the program and across campus. An instrumental part of the department’s operations, Nichols has served various stints supervising athletic offices responsible for NCAA compliance, scholarships, programming, and facilities operations, in addition to a period as interim AD.
Nichols played an integral role in several influential periods in the department’s history, including the Division I transition, the addition of four varsity sports, assisting an $8 million campaign to fund new athletic facilities, and serving as an adviser on the design of three new athletic facilities.
Over the past 13 years, Nichols has grown the department’s first NCAA Division I compliance program, focusing on education and monitoring. She has aided in the creation and development of the academic services position to provide resources to student-athletes.
During her tenure, Nichols has held titles of assistant athletic director (2009-12), associate athletic director (2012-15), senior associate athletic director (2015-19), and interim athletic director (April to August 2019), as well as the senior woman administrator role she was appointed to in 2010.
She has held numerous other leadership positions on campus, from her post on the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council, as adviser to the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, and as the athletic department’s liaison to campus departments, including Residential Life, Financial Aid, Conduct, and Title IX.
Nichols was also named an Honorary Alumna of PC in 2020.
Fellow PC trustee Brad Spearman ’85, who worked closely with Nichols on athletic initiatives, is also enthusiastic about the college’s choice.
A 1991 graduate of Georgia Southern University with a Bachelor of Health and Physical Education, Nichols earned her master’s degree in physical education from GSU in 1992. As a student, she was a four-year starter in volleyball for the Eagles.
Nichols began her professional career in intercollegiate athletics as an assistant volleyball coach at GSU in 1992. She served as head volleyball coach for her alma mater from 1994-97 before switching to women’s basketball as a recruiting coordinator. Before joining PC’s athletics staff, Nichols was the assistant compliance director at the University of Rhode Island.
Nichols resides in Clinton with her husband, Harold ’89. They have three children – Cassie ’20, Cameron, and Corey.
