FAIRFAX, Va. – George Mason University Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics Brad Edwards announced today that Kristi Giddings, an industry leader in athletic administration,  has been named the department's Deputy Athletic Director of Legal, Compliance, and NCAA Governance.
 
Throughout her career, Giddings has served in a myriad of leadership and administrative positions in athletics, focusing on compliance, student-athlete well-being, risk management, sports supervision, and NCAA governance.
 
Giddings joins Mason after serving as associate athletic director at the University of Maryland, leading the compliance department for the past four years (2015-19).  During her tenure at College Park, Giddings compiled a nearly 100 percent success rate in student-athlete reinstatement, initial eligibility, progress towards degree and legislative relief waiver requests. She served as a member of the athletic department's leadership team and was the department's liaison for the university's Athletics Council.  In addition, Giddings represented the department in Title IX matters and served as a sports administrator. She originally joined the Terrapins as assistant athletic director for compliance in the winter of 2012. 
 
"We are excited to welcome Kristi to George Mason University," Edwards said.  "Kristi's experience and her diverse background in legal affairs, risk management, compliance, and NCAA legislation and governance makes her an ideal fit for our department and leadership team. Kristi has successfully managed, monitored and enforced a comprehensive compliance program – most recently at a Power 5 institution. Combined with her legal acumen and her expertise of the current landscape in intercollegiate athletics, Kristi will make an indelible impact and play an integral leadership role for both our athletics department and university." 
 
Prior to joining Maryland, Giddings worked at the University of Alaska Fairbanks as the associate athletics director, compliance/senior woman administrator for three years (2010-12). She supervised six varsity sports and managed and monitored the compliance programs for the department's athletic programs.  
 
"I would like to thank Brad Edwards for this outstanding opportunity," Giddings said.  "I am looking forward to collaborating with a talented group of student-athletes, coaches and administrators. George Mason's continued growth and impressive reputation both academically and athletically make it an exciting time to join this outstanding university."
 
Beginning in 2006, Giddings was a practicing attorney for Spencer Fane Britt & Browne, LLC in Kansas City, Missouri. While with the firm, she worked on a team representing the NCAA in numerous matters relating to rules compliance and violations of the NCAA Division I Manual by institutions, coaches and student-athletes.  In 2005, she had a pair of legal internships with Nike in Beaverton, Oregon and Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Giddings was a judicial intern for the Honorable John L. Coffey, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals from Milwaukee in 2004.
 
Giddings earned her bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science with a minor in English from the University of North Carolina. She graduated from Marquette University Law School with a Juris Doctor and a certificate from the National Sports Law Institute. Giddings earned a CALI Award—given to the highest scoring student in each law school class— for the Amateur Sports Law Workshop and was editor of the Marquette University Sports Law Review. She holds professional memberships with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the National Association of Athletics Compliance (NAAC) and the National Sports Law Institute Law Alumni Association.