Julie Cromer
Director of Athletics, Ohio University
Born: Springfield, Mo.
Education: Missouri State University, B.S. communications management; Indiana University, M.P.A., policy analysis
Family: Spouse, Will
More about Julie
Guilty pleasure: Reading for fun when I should be reading for work.
Advice to my younger self: Be patient and give as much grace to yourself as you give to others. Also, listen to your intuition, even when you don’t want to believe what it’s telling you.
Proudest professional achievement: The shift in our department culture at Ohio as we also rebound from the pandemic. We are much more solution-oriented, nimble and connected (as a department) than we were when I arrived three years ago, which better positions us for the evolving college sports landscape.
I wish I’d known at my career’s start: It’s OK to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them. As Dr. Maya Angelou said, “Then when you know better, do better.”
Change I’d make related to women working in sports: As many of us are renovating and building new facilities, we should challenge ourselves to be more inclusive in our design efforts, particularly in collegiate sports where we train and compete in older campus venues that were originally designed primarily (or even exclusively) for men. Even though women are now also in those spaces, they often are not designed for a gender-diverse workforce.
