To begin the 2019-2020 sports seasons, The Judges are welcoming two exciting additions to the staff down at Gosman. First off, Brandeis shared the long-awaited announcement of the new Director of Athletics last week, as Lauren Haynie looks to begin her work as the university’s 12th leader in this position on September 23, 2019. She will succeed Interim Athletic Director Jeffrey Ward, who started at Brandeis in September 2018.
Haynie joins the Brandeis community from her most recent position at the neighboring Wellesley College, where she was the Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Director of PERA (Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics). At Brandeis, she will assume a similar position, as she will be responsible for all things athletics on this campus, and will strive to make the student-athlete experience better for all those involved.
When asked what student athletes at Brandeis are looking for in a new athletic director, Jillian Petrie ’21, a member of the women’s basketball team, said, “I am looking for someone that we can all go to and are able to rely on as a resource for anything involving our sport or other areas we might need help in.”
As an undergraduate, Haynie attended Pennsylvania State University, where she graduated with a degree in Kinesiology in 2000 before moving on to get a Master of Science in Education from Old Dominion University in 2002. She also holds a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University and a graduate certificate in Leadership and Diversity in Sports Management from the University of Connecticut.
From there, she was involved in collegiate athletics programs across the country before her most recent stint at Wellesley, spanning from Lane College in Jackson, TN to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. to the schools of nearby Assumption College in Worcester and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. At each of these schools, Haynie was responsible for various duties within athletics, including both the athletics departments themselves as well as sports medicine. Perhaps most excitingly, Haynie comes in with experience advocating for Title IV, representing minority and LGBTQ students, and has worked on committees designed to promote student life, inclusion, diversity and equality. She is also a member of Women Leaders in College Sports, the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Joining Haynie in the department will be Pauri Pandian, the newest head coach of both the men’s and women’s tennis teams. Following in the footsteps of former coach Ben Lamanna, Pandian will take the reins on both programs this upcoming season, as Lamanna heads to lead the Bowdoin College Polar Bears. Pandian is not unfamiliar with Brandeis, as he served under Coach Lamanna as an assistant from 2011 to 2015 before becoming the head coach at Wheaton College until 2019. While with the Lyons, Pandian totaled 59 wins and lead his teams to the NEWMAC semifinals in both 2018 and 2019. During his time with The Judges, Pandian was named the ITA National Division III Coach of the Year for his feats with the women’s team and the Northeast Regional Coach of the Year for his accomplishments with both squads in 2015.
As an undergraduate, Pandian attended Wesleyan University, where he received degrees in English and religion while playing varsity tennis. He will be inheriting highly acclaimed teams with the men and the women, who finished eighth and 10th respectively in the Division III national rankings at the end of the 2019 season.
