Giardina Joins Athletics Staff
January 05, 2026 03:04 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mary Giardina, a 15-year collegiate athletic administrator, has been named executive senior associate athletics director for student-athlete experience, governance and compliance by West Virginia University Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker.
At West Virginia, Giardina will serve in a senior leadership capacity on Baker's staff and provide oversight of the Student-Athlete Academic Services unit, overseeing academic excellence and supporting the personal and career development of Mountaineer student-athletes.
She will also administer the operations of the Athletics Compliance unit, assuring that the department complies with all applicable rules and regulations of the NCAA. In her role, she will also serve as the compliance lead for all student-athletes in name, image and likeness issues to ensure daily operative procedures.
Giardina's roots in West Virginia run deep as she is a native of Huntington and her family currently lives in Hurricane. Her father, Frank, is a well-known journalist in the state and was a long-time college administrator and broadcaster at Marshall, Penn State and East Carolina. Her mother, Cindy, has dedicated 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 comes to West Virginia from Florida Atlantic where she has worked since 2022 as deputy athletics director/chief of staff and senior woman administrator, overseeing the day-to day operations of the department's 19 varsity sports, 450 student-athletes and 125 employees. She also served as the sport administrator for football, women's basketball and baseball along with overseeing human resources, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and Title IX. She joined Florida Atlantic's executive staff in 2018 as its senior associate athletic director of compliance and SWA before taking on the additional administrative responsibilities in 2022.
Before FAU, she worked at Duke as the executive director of compliance, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the compliance office. With the Blue Devils, she built a rules education curriculum, worked with coaches on monitoring and interrupting NCAA rules and managed the processing of NCAA and ACC compliance reporting.
Prior to her stint at Duke, Giardina served as the director of compliance at the Atlantic Coast Conference. While at the ACC, she piloted a project to improve rules education for league members and managed the compliance operations for the conference.
Before her role at the ACC, Giardina's first stint at Duke was as an assistant director of sports information from 2011-2013, where she coordinated public relations, publicity and social media for several Blue Devil sports teams.
Additionally, in that first stint at Duke from 2010-2011, she got her start in compliance by working as a liaison with the unit, putting an emphasis on monitoring NCAA Bylaw 13. The Bylaw governs recruiting and details rules and interactions with prospective student-athletes.
Her professional career started in 2009 as a teacher for New Orleans College Prep, where she founded and developed the middle school health and physical education curriculum and assisted in the development 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."
Giardina, a former Wake Forest track and field student-athlete, earned her bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from Wake in 2006 and was a member of the ACC academic honor roll. She earned her master's degree in liberal studies from Duke in 2013.
At West Virginia, Giardina will serve in a senior leadership capacity on Baker's staff and provide oversight of the Student-Athlete Academic Services unit, overseeing academic excellence and supporting the personal and career development of Mountaineer student-athletes.
She will also administer the operations of the Athletics Compliance unit, assuring that the department complies with all applicable rules and regulations of the NCAA. In her role, she will also serve as the compliance lead for all student-athletes in name, image and likeness issues to ensure daily operative procedures.
Giardina's roots in West Virginia run deep as she is a native of Huntington and her family currently lives in Hurricane. Her father, Frank, is a well-known journalist in the state and was a long-time college administrator and broadcaster at Marshall, Penn State and East Carolina. Her mother, Cindy, has dedicated 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 comes to West Virginia from Florida Atlantic where she has worked since 2022 as deputy athletics director/chief of staff and senior woman administrator, overseeing the day-to day operations of the department's 19 varsity sports, 450 student-athletes and 125 employees. She also served as the sport administrator for football, women's basketball and baseball along with overseeing human resources, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and Title IX. She joined Florida Atlantic's executive staff in 2018 as its senior associate athletic director of compliance and SWA before taking on the additional administrative responsibilities in 2022.
Before FAU, she worked at Duke as the executive director of compliance, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the compliance office. With the Blue Devils, she built a rules education curriculum, worked with coaches on monitoring and interrupting NCAA rules and managed the processing of NCAA and ACC compliance reporting.
Prior to her stint at Duke, Giardina served as the director of compliance at the Atlantic Coast Conference. While at the ACC, she piloted a project to improve rules education for league members and managed the compliance operations for the conference.
Before her role at the ACC, Giardina's first stint at Duke was as an assistant director of sports information from 2011-2013, where she coordinated public relations, publicity and social media for several Blue Devil sports teams.
Additionally, in that first stint at Duke from 2010-2011, she got her start in compliance by working as a liaison with the unit, putting an emphasis on monitoring NCAA Bylaw 13. The Bylaw governs recruiting and details rules and interactions with prospective student-athletes.
Her professional career started in 2009 as a teacher for New Orleans College Prep, where she founded and developed the middle school health and physical education curriculum and assisted in the development 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."
Giardina, a former Wake Forest track and field student-athlete, earned her bachelor's degree in health and exercise science from Wake in 2006 and was a member of the ACC academic honor roll. She earned her master's degree in liberal studies from Duke in 2013.
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