Honors & Accomplishments
• Named 2022 NIKE FCS Executive of the Year by Women Leaders in College Sports.
• Past-President of the FCS Athletic Director Association, and continuing member of the FCS ADA Executive Committee.
• Teams won 11 Patriot League team titles and competed in 13 national championship competitions during her five years as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Colgate University.
• Experienced administrator at the highest levels of Division I athletics, with stints at Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Missouri.
Athletics Administrative Experience
• Director of Athletics and Physical Education, Cornell University (2022-present)
• Vice President and Director of Athletics, Colgate University (2018-22)
• Senior Associate Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator, University of North Carolina (2015-18)
• Senior Administrator, University of Oklahoma (2004-15)
• Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Life and Strategic Planning/Senior Woman Administrator, University of Oklahoma (2012-15)
• Senior Associate Athletics Director for Academics and Student Life/Senior Woman Administrator, University of Oklahoma (2010-12)
• Assistant Athletics Director for Psychological Resources and Strategic Planning, University of Oklahoma (2007-10)
• Assistant Director for Academics and Student Life/Director of Psychological Resources, University of Oklahoma (2004-07)
• Previous stops include fundraising, alumni relations, student-athlete development, counseling, and teaching at the University of Missouri, University of California Davis, University of Nevada Las Vegas from 1996-2004
Boards and Committees
• NCAA Division I FCS Representative to the NACDA Board of Directors (2022-present)
• Division I FCS Athletics Directors Association President (FCS-ADA) (2021-22)
• Division I FCS Athletics Directors Association Executive Group (FCS-ADA) (2019-present)
• NCAA Reclassifying Peer Reviewer (2022)
• NCAA Mental Health Task Force (2005-present)
• NCAA Strategic Visioning and Planning Committee (2017-21)
• NCAA Committee for Institutional Performance (2012-15) - Inclusion Subcommittee (2014-16)
• Patriot League Anti-Racism Commission Member (2020-present)
• Patriot League Volleyball Committee (2018-present)
• Colgate Dean's Advisory Committee and Academics Affairs Board (2018-22)
• Colgate Committee on Athletics (2018-22)
• ACC Women's Basketball Strategic Foresight Committee (2016-18)
• Chair of the ACC Senior Woman Administrators Governance Group (2016-17)
• ACC Men's Lacrosse Committee (2015-17)
• Chair of the Big Twelve Senior Woman Administrators Governance Group (2011-12)
Education
• B.S., Secondary Education, University of Missouri (1996)
• M.A., Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri (1998)
• Ph.D. Counseling Psychology - Sport Psychology, University of Missouri (2002)
At Cornell
Dr. Nicki Moore, who brings nearly two decades of visionary athletics leadership and served as Vice President and Director of Athletics of Colgate University since 2018, was named the Meakem & Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education on Nov. 30, 2022.
Moore became the 15th Director of Athletics in Cornell's storied history and the first woman to hold the position. She is the second director to lead Big Red athletics since the position was endowed in 2003 by Jack '58 and Diane '61 Meakem and Scott Smith '79.
Prior to Cornell
Moore joined the Big Red after serving as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Colgate from 2018-22. As a member of the President’s Cabinet, she contributed to the University's strategic, and operational decision-making while developing and executing the Third Century Athletics Plan. Colgate teams won 11 league titles in football, men’s basketball, women’s ice hockey, volleyball, men’s soccer and men’s rowing. Teams had success at the highest levels, with football reaching the FCS quarterfinals in 2018, the Sweet 16 in men’s soccer that same fall, and the quarterfinals in women’s ice hockey in 2021.
During her time in Hamilton, Moore developed and successfully launched and implemented a new visual and brand identity for Colgate Athletics and overhauled athletics fundraising operations in partnership with University advancement. She helped raise $1.3 million to install the Biddle Project for football/lacrosse that included a new video board, plaza, and walkway. She helped secured more than $25 million in gifts in support of a new athletics center and increased funding of scholarships. She also hired eight of the Colgate's 18 head coaching positions during her tenure, and launched the department’s first plan to advance diversity, equity and inclusion.
Student-athlete well-being was a focus of her tenure at Colgate, and under her leadership, several new programs were launched and supported to enhance the student-athlete experience. Such programs included the Raider Refuel nutrition station, Wellness Advocates, Career Ambassadors, and Sustainability Partners. A collaborative approach to promoting mental wellbeing and preventing and remediation injury was installed under her watch, including the addition of sport psychology services, partnership with the University Chaplains' Office, and the installation of Real Response – a secure and anonymous communication platform for teams to report concerns, provide feedback and receive immediate responses.
During a three-year stint as Senior Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator at North Carolina, Moore managed sport administrators for the Tar Heels' 28 varsity sports. During that span, UNC earned a pair of top 10 Directors Cup finishes, won four national championships and claimed eight ACC championships while directly supervising men's soccer, women's basketball, volleyball, football, and cross country and track and field. She was part of the implementation of the “Together, We Win” strategic plan and chaired the Title IX group that completed a comprehensive gender-equity review. Moore also chaired the ACC Senior Woman Administrator Governance Group.
Moore spent more than a decade at the University of Oklahoma in various roles, culminating in three years as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student Life and Strategic Planning and SWA. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, Moore assisted the Sooners in achieving three top 25 Directors Cup finishes while winning three NCAA titles and 19 Big Twelve titles. She led the writing, launch and execution of the “Sooner MAGIC” five-year strategic plan. She also served Oklahoma in academic and student life, psychological resources and strategic planning roles, founding the first comprehensive in-house counseling and sport psychology program in the NCAA.
She began her administrative career by holding various positions of increasing responsibility in fundraising, alumni relations, counseling, and teaching at the University of Missouri, University of California Davis and University of Nevada Las Vegas prior to joining Oklahoma.
Athletic Career
Moore was a four-time captain on Missouri’s track and field and cross-country teams, winning three Big 12 titles and qualifying for a pair of NCAA Championships at 800 meters. She was an Academic All-Big 12 choice in her final two years of competition. Moore graduated with a school record in the 800 meters indoors and the third-fastest outdoors in school history, and set the first school record in women’s pole vault. She was a silver medalist at the USA Outdoor Junior Nationals and the Junior Pan-American Games and ultimately earned NCAA and Big 12 Post-Grad scholarships.
Education
Moore graduated from the University of Missouri in 1996 with a bachelor of science degree in secondary education and received her master of arts degree in counseling psychology two years later. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Sport Psychology in 2002.
Personal
Moore and her husband, Dr. Bill Moore have a son, Ian, as well as three adult sons, Brennan, Tyler, and Cullen.
