Lynch brings more than 20 years of experience in college coaching and athletics administration to Haverford and is a respected professional within the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She will take over for Michael Vienna, who has held the position of interim director of athletics since August of 2021. 

"I am honored and excited to be the next director of athletics at Haverford College, where I intend to lead with passion, a competitive spirit, and focus on improving equity and social justice," Lynch said. "Thank you to President Wendy Raymond, Dean McKnight, and the search committee for selecting me to exercise our greater mission, compete at the highest level, and deeply connect athletics to the Haverford community."

"The search committee was truly impressed with Danielle from the very first interview,'' said Dean McKnight. She has a great combination of professional experiences and personal qualities that will help our athletic department move into its next era of excellence. It was clear to us that Danielle is the kind of leader who will provide support and advocacy for our amazing coaches, staff, and student-athletes. She also conveyed a keen interest in working with colleagues outside of the department to make sure there will be opportunities to collaborate across divisions."

At Susquehanna, Lynch serves as the NCAA compliance officer for 22 varsity sports teams as well as the athletics designee for inclusion and diversity (ADID) and the university's deputy Title IX coordinator. She is also a trained facilitator for the NCAA's OneTeam program, which promotes inclusion and equity for the LGBTQ+ community within Division III athletics, and oversees the day-to-day administration of the men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's swimming and diving, and softball programs.

Prior to her work at Susquehanna, Lynch served as the senior woman administrator, athletics coordinator, student-athlete welfare coordinator, Title IX committee chair, Student Athlete Advisory Commitee (SAAC) advisor, athletics designee for inclusion and diversity at Penn State Harrisburg in Middletown, Pa.

Lynch balanced these numerous administrative and leadership duties while maintaining her role as a head coach for the men's and women's track & field and cross country teams for the Nittany Lions, a program she started in 2013. Lynch built that program into a formidable unit, coaching six All-Americans and the school's first national champion during an eight-season tenure at the helm. 

Her career began at the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 2003 where she was an assistant track and field coach for sprints and hurdles. She then moved on to a similar role with Bucknell University in 2005. At Bucknell until 2013, she was the school's first assistant track and field coach, helping to instruct more than 20 school record holders and 30 Patriot League champions. 

Having earned her Bachelor of Arts in geography and anthropology from Rutgers University in 2002 and her Master of Science in education from Bucknell in 2010, Lynch is currently a doctoral candidate in the Lifelong Learning in Adult Education Program at Penn State. Her research focus is on the lived experiences of Black male professional athletes during ongoing social justice movements. 

"The feedback from the Haverford community demonstrated how inspiring and visionary Danielle will be in helping to shape the future of our athletics program." Dean McKnight continued. "I want to thank the search committee as well as the many students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends of the college who supported this process and helped us attract such a talented and qualified person for the role of director of athletics."

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