University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Denise Poole, a Philadelphia native with more than two decades of supporting students, is in her second year as the Senior Associate AD, Student-Athlete Success in 2025-26.

Poole returned to Philly after five years at Penn State, where she was the Director of Student Success Initiatives. 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. 

Poole 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.