SUNY Cortland Athletics

(bio updated July 2020)

A highly successful coach at the University of Nebraska and The George Washington University (GWU), Patricia A. Sullivan '69 reaped dual acclaim as a respected collegiate professor and researcher, as well as a contributor to the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports (NAGWS).

The daughter of Cortland graduates, Sullivan played volleyball and field hockey, participated in "play days" and was a Women's Athletic Association representative at Cortland. A member of Theta Phi sorority and the Officials Club, Sullivan earned her bachelor's degree in physical education in 1969. She received a master's degree from Smith College and an Ed.D. in higher education from GWU.

Sullivan briefly taught at Southern Cayuga Central in Poplar Ridge, N.Y., from 1969-71. She was a physical education instructor and head volleyball and swimming coach at the University of Nebraska from 1973-78. Her volleyball teams had a 114-22 record and went to the national championships. Her swim teams were state champions and also went to nationals during her three years as coach. In the classroom, she was named Outstanding Physical Education Professor.

From 1978-87, she was head volleyball coach at GWU, where she posted a 289-140 record. The Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 1986, she received GWU's Alumni Association Award and was inducted into the GWU Athletic Hall of Fame. At GWU, Sullivan directed the Elderhostel programs, supervised the graduate programs in sports studies and coordinated the Basic Physical Activity Program.
Promoted to full professor in 2000, she won the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The author of numerous scholarly publications, Sullivan served as president of the National Council for Accreditation of Coaching and Education. She was active with NAGWS in Washington, D.C., and nationally for three decades.

Sullivan retired from GWU in 2007 and has been an adjunct faculty member at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) since that time. At MCLA Sullivan initiated an undergraduate minor in Coaching Education and has taught in the graduate programs in the Department of Education.