General | September 03, 2024
PHILADELPHIA – Denise Poole, a Philadelphia native with more than two decades of supporting students, has been named the Senior Associate AD, Student-Athlete Success at Penn. Poole was most recently the Director of Student Success Initiatives at Penn State for the past five years. She will begin at Penn on September 23.
"Denise has outstanding experience in all areas of student success during her career at several higher educational institutions," Alanna Wren, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation said. "She has proven to be a compelling partner to central university services and a colleague who develops and maintains positive relationships with students and faculty. As we continue to focus on holistic student-athlete development as a core priority, the hiring of Denise furthers the investment we are making in this important area. I look forward to having Denise join our Executive Team later this month."
"I am honored to join the exceptional leadership team at Penn's Division of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics," Poole said. "I look forward to leveraging my experience to continually enhance community, elevate student-athlete success, and contribute meaningfully to Penn's enduring legacy of athletic and academic excellence."
As the inaugural Director of Student Success Initiatives, Poole launched the Student Success Center within Undergraduate Education at PSU, collaborating with senior administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, and students to drive strategic initiatives related to student success. In this role, she provided holistic support to students enrolled across 21 of Penn State's undergraduate degree-granting campuses, developed a University framework for student success, and led a variety of efforts that allowed the university to achieve a "First-Gen Forward" institutional status.
Before Penn State, Poole spent 13 years leading the Academic Affairs Office at New York University which supported the athletics department in admissions/recruitment, eligibility, compliance, academic support, and student development. At NYU, Denise created and implemented a national award-winning leadership development program and increased student-athlete academic recognition and success.
She was the President of the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development (N4A) in 2019-20, an N4A executive committee member for four years, and received professional excellence and distinguished service from the organization in 2017 and 2018.
Poole is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development, Organizational Development, and Change from Penn State. She received her Master's in Applied Educational Psychology from Northeastern and her Bachelor's in Psychology from Saint Joseph's, where she was a four-year standout and a captain for the cross country and track field teams.
