Staff Directory
- Title:
- Associate Athletic Director for Leadership & Inclusion
- Email:
- Phone:
- 608-215-1764
Danielle Pulliam, Ed.D. joined the Wisconsin Athletics family in 2022 and currently serves as Associate Athletic Director for Leadership and Inclusion. A member of the department’s Senior Leadership Team, she oversees the Leadership & Inclusion and Student-Athlete Development units, provides primary sport oversight for softball and secondary oversight for women’s basketball, and helps operationalize Wisconsin’s vision for leadership development, inclusion, and holistic excellence across the athletic department.
Pulliam’s responsibilities include cultivating the personal, professional, and leadership growth of Badger student-athletes; developing staff and coach learning opportunities centered on leadership and culture; and advancing department-wide initiatives under the Power of Us umbrella that promote shared experiences and community connection. She also represents Wisconsin Athletics on campus-wide committees and conference working groups focused on inclusion and student-athlete well-being.
Prior to arriving in Madison, Pulliam served as Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Services at Loyola University Chicago, where she provided leadership for academic support, student-athlete development, and inclusive excellence initiatives. She previously held academic and student-athlete services roles at Indiana University and the University of Memphis, where she developed the Tigers’ Freshman Student-Athlete Transitions course to help first-year student-athletes successfully acclimate to college life.
A former women’s basketball student-athlete at Northern Illinois University, Pulliam earned both her bachelor’s (B.S. in Family Child Studies) and master’s (M.S. in Sport Management) degrees from NIU. She later completed a second master’s in Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Memphis and an Ed.D. in Global Sport Leadership from East Tennessee State University, where her doctoral research explored inclusive hiring practices in sport organizations.
Originally from Indianapolis, Pulliam is a member of Women Leaders in Sports, MOAA, and N4A, and is a trained facilitator in leadership, inclusion, and values-based development. She is passionate about leveraging the platform of athletics to bring people together, foster belonging, and empower the next generation of leaders to thrive in every arena of life.
