Division III AD Visits Sports MBA Classroom
Dr. Miriam Merrill, the Director of Athletics/Chair of Physical Education at Pomona-Pitzer Athletics.
SDSU Sports MBA recently hosted Dr. Miriam Merrill, the Director of Athletics/Chair of Physical Education at Pomona-Pitzer Athletics in Claremont, California. Dr. Merrill was a decorated student athlete on the track and field team at the University of Cincinnati, then received a Masters of Sports Administration at Xavier University, and her PhD in Psychology of Human Movement at Temple University. Dr. Merrill began by sharing her journey from NCAA athlete to her current role running an athletic department, and explained the differences of the role between DI, DII, and DIII programs. The job of an athletic director, she said, requires great communication skills and the ability to connect with others. In her role, Dr. Merrill said she’s deeply involved in creating a great student athlete experience and she and her coaches are able to work together to help their student athletes achieve their goals.
Dr. Merrill highlighted how she enjoys being able to get to know all of her student athletes at her institution and how she’s able to create personal connections with all members of the campus community. Drawing upon her research experience in academia, Dr. Merrill cited the important role that emotional intelligence plays in creating meaningful professional and personal connections, using examples from her own experience. She emphasized the importance of having strong emotional intelligence to be a great leader and outlined the role high EQ can play in handling difficult professional situations. Dr. Merrill taught the SMBA ‘22 students a few techniques to improve their own emotional intelligence and shared suggestions about how they can communicate with others more effectively. The group worked on scenarios in pairs to practice the various communication techniques that Dr. Merrill taught in the session.
“I enjoyed that Dr. Merrill drew upon her background in Sports Psychology to teach us about the professional importance of emotional intelligence,” said Sports MBA student Sierra Garcia (SMBA ‘22). “This was an incredibly useful lesson to take into our jobs next year because it’s essential to understand oneself and every member of your team in order to create the best organizational culture.”
SMBA ‘22 would like to thank Dr. Merrill for sharing her professional journey and experiences with the group. The students are excited to continue to work on the tools she shared to continue strengthening their emotional intelligence in the MBA program and beyond.
