WVU Names Mary Giardina Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director

West Virginia University Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker tabbed 15-year veteran collegiate athletics administrator Mary Giardina as executive senior associate athletics director for student-athlete experience, governance and compliance.

At West Virginia University, Giardina will serve in a senior leadership role on Baker’s staff, providing oversight of the Student-Athlete Academic Services unit with a focus on academic excellence and the personal and career development of Mountaineer student-athletes. She will also administer the Athletics Compliance unit, ensuring adherence to all NCAA rules and regulations, and will serve as the department’s compliance lead for all name, image and likeness (NIL) matters, overseeing daily operational procedures.

A native of Huntington, Giardina brings strong West Virginia ties back to Morgantown. Her family currently resides in Hurricane. Her father, Frank, is a longtime journalist and former college administrator and broadcaster with stops at Marshall, Penn State and East Carolina, while her mother, Cindy, devoted her career to elementary education in the state.

“It’s always a good thing to bring a West Virginian home to make a positive impact in our state. With her strong background in a number of key areas surrounding college athletics, Mary will be an excellent addition to our senior staff at WVU,” Baker said. “We are very fortunate to bring her to Morgantown, and I know she will be a valued leader of our compliance and academic operations.”

Giardina arrives from Florida Atlantic University, where she has worked since 2022 as deputy athletics director/chief of staff and senior woman administrator. In that role, she oversaw day-to-day operations for the department’s 19 varsity sports, 450 student-athletes and 125 employees. She also served as sport administrator for football, women’s basketball and baseball, while supervising human resources, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and Title IX. Giardina joined FAU’s executive staff in 2018 as senior associate athletics director of compliance and SWA before assuming expanded administrative duties in 2022.

Prior to FAU, Giardina served at Duke University as executive director of compliance, overseeing the daily operations of the compliance office. During her time with the Blue Devils, she developed a comprehensive rules education curriculum, collaborated with coaches on NCAA rules monitoring and interpretation, and managed NCAA and ACC compliance reporting.

Giardina also spent time with the Atlantic Coast Conference as director of compliance, where she led a conference-wide initiative to enhance rules education and managed league compliance operations. Earlier in her career, she held multiple roles at Duke, including assistant director of sports information from 2011–13, coordinating public relations, publicity and social media for several sports. From 2010–11, she began her compliance career as a liaison with an emphasis on monitoring NCAA Bylaw 13, which governs recruiting activities and interactions with prospective student-athletes.

Her professional career began in 2009 as a teacher at New Orleans College Prep, where she founded and developed the middle school health and physical education curriculum and assisted in the growth of the inner-city school.

“I’m extremely grateful to Wren Baker for the opportunity to join the West Virginia University community,” Giardina said. “This place is truly special, and I’m excited to support the coaches, staff, and student-athletes as we continue to strive for excellence in all we do.”

A former track and field student-athlete at Wake Forest University, Giardina earned her bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science in 2006 and was a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll. She completed her master’s degree in liberal studies from Duke in 2013.

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