Hamilton College

Deidre Pierson was elevated to Hamilton College's Interim Director of Athletics effective May 1, 2025, after the retirement of Jon Hind, who had served as Director of Athletics since 2007. Pierson was named Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator and Associate Professor of Physical Education in August 2021. She helps administer and manage all day-to-day operations within the department.
 
Pierson supervises 12 of the department’s 29 intercollegiate varsity programs and 10 head coaches (women’s ice hockey, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and softball). Additionally, she serves in the role of Compliance Director and is the NCAA-appointed Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee (ADID) for the department.
 
Pierson provides broader service to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) as a member of the administrator-led DEI Committee and as the main administrator liaison for the Coalition of Student Athletes of Color (CoSAoC) groups to all 11 institutions, along with Hamilton’s Athletes of Color Initiative (ACI). Pierson provides additional administrative service to Hamilton’s community as a member of several staff and faculty lead support committees. She serves as the athletics department main liaison to the Hamilton student support care team. Pierson has most recently been instrumental in the coordination and implementation of the Radical Health mental health and wellness programming for all student athletes.
 
Pierson was the Continentals' assistant women's basketball coach during the 2020-2021 COVID season before she was promoted to her current position at the college. Prior to Hamilton, Pierson coached women’s basketball and golf in the Liberty League for four years with stops at Skidmore College and Union College. Pierson spent 20 years successfully leading teams in the legal, compliance and financial services fields before returning to a career in coaching.
 
Pierson is a member of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS) and has presented her research on Diversity and Inclusion Hiring in Intercollegiate Athletics at annual conferences. She is also a member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), Women Leaders in Sport, WeCoach, and the NESCAC Coaches and Administrators of Color group.

Pierson is active on a national level participating in NCAA and NACDA convention workshops. She is a graduate of the NCAA 2022 Division III Institute for Administrative Advancement program, the Women Leaders in Sport 2023 Institute for Advancement, the 2024 Leadership Enhancement Institute executive program, and a member of the selective class of 2025 NCAA Pathway program.
 
Pierson, who hails from Montreal, Quebec, played Division I college basketball at Boise State University where she graduated in 1996. She was a sophomore point guard on head coach June Daugherty’s 1993-94 team that posted a 23-6 record and received an at-large bid to the NCAA championship. The Broncos shared the Big Sky Conference regular season title that season with a 12-2 league record and were nationally ranked. Pierson was a three-time honoree on the conference’s all-academic team.
 
Pierson graduated from Boise State with a bachelor of science degree in political science and a paralegal studies minor. She completed her master of science in sport management with a concentration in intercollegiate athletics from SUNY Cortland. She most recently completed Cornell University’s Certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in 2022. She lives in Clinton with her wife and enjoys music, dance, reading, gardening and all things sports related.