Azure Davey has been appointed as the second commissioner of the SUNYAC and will begin her new position on July 9.
“I look forward to working with an outstanding group of Division III institutions and a storied conference,” said Davey in a statement. “The SUNYAC represents the best of Division III and I’m honored to lead the conference into its next generation.”
SUNYAC members selected Davey following a nationwide search. Davey will succeed Dr. Patrick R. Damore, who was the SUNYAC’s founding commissioner and served for 33 years.
As commissioner, Davey will provide a critical link among the presidents, academic leaders, athletic administrators and coaches of the SUNYAC. Her responsibilities will include administrative oversight of all of the conference’s sports programs for men and women, including championships and special events, and she will administer its program-development efforts and day-to-day operational planning. Officiating, compliance and conference schedules will also fall under her purview. Davey will manage the annual operating budget and will coordinate contacts with prospective sponsors and affiliated organizations.
Davey comes to the SUNYAC office from the NCAA, where she served as an associate director of academic and membership affairs for Division III since 2008. She served as the primary liaison to the membership committee, managing the provisional and reclassifying membership program, the active member education program and the Division III conference contact program. She also served as a secondary liaison to NCAA Division III student-athlete advisory committee and supported the NCAA Division III management and presidents councils.
Davey joined the membership services staff in August 2006 as an assistant director. Among other duties within that role, she served as a secondary liaison to the NCAA Division III membership committee and worked with various Division III conferences as a conference contact.
Prior to joining the NCAA staff, Davey Azure served a two-year stint at Cortland State as as assistant athletic director in charge of compliance, student services and scheduling.
Before working with Cortland State and the NCAA, Davey served as the head coach for both women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse at Utica College from 2000-02 and as the assistant field hockey and women’s lacrosse coach at Elmira College in the 2003-04 season.
A 2000 graduate of Hamilton College, Davey received a bachelor of arts in government and classical studies. She earned her master of science in general education in 2004 from Elmira College. She participated in three sports while at Hamilton, playing four years of soccer in addition to squash for three years and lacrosse for one. As a soccer goalkeeper, she earned regional All-America, New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA) and Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association (UCAA) honors.
