Patricia H. Meiser
Director of Athletics / Special Assistant to the President
Pat Meiser, in her 16th year at the University of Hartford, serves as the director of athletics and special assistant to the president.
One of only 22 women director of athletics among the 329 institutions competing at the Division I level, Meiser has 37 years of experience in coaching and athletics administration. In May of 1999, she was named one of the nation’s top 50 women’s sports executives by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, and in June of 2006 she was named the Northeast Region I-AAA GeneralSports TURF Systems Athletics Director of the Year.
At Hartford, Meiser heads a team that is responsible for growing the athletics and academic quality of the program, enhancing revenue and extending the program into the community.
In Meiser’s tenure, seven sports (women’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s tennis and women’s volleyball) have won America East Conference championships and either reached NCAA Division I tournament or national postseason play. Basketball, in particular, has emerged with Meiser’s hiring of Jennifer Rizzotti and Dan Leibovitz. The women’s basketball team has been crowned America East Conference champion and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008. The men’s team set a school record with 18 wins in 2007-08 and advanced to the America East Championship finals for the first time in school history.
Revenue enhancement has also been an area of growth for Hartford under Meiser’s leadership. This has taken place through an expanded fund raising and alumni relations effort, development of a corporate sponsorship program, implementation of a licensing program and successful grant submissions. Most significantly, Hartford athletics embarked on a $10 million athletics capital campaign in April of 2003. The campaign, called Home Field Advantage, funded the renovation of the existing soccer and lacrosse field, the relocation and construction of a softball field, the construction of a baseball field and will include construction of a track surrounding an all-purpose field. The ground breaking for Home Field Advantage took place in April of 2005, and Phase I of the project was completed in 2007. Phase II is presently under way.
Meiser’s commitment to academics is well documented and demonstrated through the success of her student-athletes. Hartford has been among the leaders in The America’s East’s Academic Cup standings each of the past 10 years. The Hawks won the Cup in 1996-97. This past academic year, the average student-athlete GPA was 2.98.
Reaching out in the community is important for Meiser. She is past chair of the Greater Hartford Convention and Visitors Bureau and her appointment came at a critical time as the city opened a $350 million convention center. Meiser was named a Connecticut “Woman of Merit” by the Girl Scouts in June 2000. She is a board member of both the Connecticut Special Olympics and the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. In October of 2007, Meiser served as Co-Chair of the CWHF Gala that celebrated the 35th anniversary of Title IX. The evening brought together the top female Olympians and national champions with ties to the state of Connecticut.
Meiser has also been involved with various intercollegiate committees and organizations at the conference, regional and national levels. She serves on the Executive Committee of NACDA and is a past President of the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (NACDA), has been a professional sport liaison, member of the soccer rules committee and active as a NCAA Certification representative. Over the years, she has also served a variety of roles in the America East Conference and is presently a member of the Executive Committee.
Prior to joining the Hawks, Meiser was the associate athletics director for administration and senior women’s administrator at the University of Connecticut. During her 10 years at Connecticut, she played a pivotal role in the rejuvenation of the athletics program.
Before arriving at Connecticut, Meiser was the head women’s basketball coach and a tenured faculty member at Penn State (1971-81). She gave the first women’s basketball scholarship at Penn State in 1974 and advanced the program to Top-20 status in the late 1970s. In addition, she coached the Gold Medal-winning East team in the inaugural 1979 National Sports Festival.
Meiser holds a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education (1969) from West Chester University and a M.Ed. in education (1971) and an MBA in business administration (1986) from Penn State. She is a native of Lancaster, PA, and has four children: Katherine, 36, wife of Jason Steadman of London; Christopher, 34, husband of Renee Jansen, Boston; Julie, 32, wife of Robert Rioux of State College, PA; and Daniel, 30, West Hartford. She also has one grandson, Lincoln.