ORONO, Maine – UMaine athletics has announced the appointment of Michelle Simpson as associate athletic director for student success.
In the role, Simpson will serve as Maine's deputy Title IX liaison, oversee the school's student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC), serve as administrator for one or more administrative units and one or more of Maine's varsity sports, and be the department's leading resource and mentor for all student service initiatives
"I would like to thank Jude Killy, Jason Grunkemeyer, and the rest of the search committee for entrusting me with this position," Simpson said. "Throughout my nine seasons at UMaine, I am especially grateful for Coach Josette Babineau's unwavering trust, mentorship, and belief in me, which has allowed me the opportunity to work with our student-athletes in a variety of ways. Those experiences have fueled my excitement to fully immerse myself in the athletic department and positively impact our entire student-athlete community. I am extremely grateful to remain a part of UMaine athletics and am committed to providing the support and leadership necessary to help our student athletes succeed. Go Blue!
In addition to her collegiate field hockey coaching experience at both UMaine and UAlbany, Simpson has dedicated much of her time assisting with the development and advancement of student-athletes away from the field of play. At Maine, Simpson has served as the America East SAAC liaison and the UMaine SAAC advisor where she fostered student-athlete leadership and development that is aligned with the university and conference initiatives. She has served on the Athletic Director's Coaches Liaison Committee and also was a key participant in Maine's task force which was challenged with re-inventing the mission, vision, and values of the department. Simpson has played a key role in the preparation and execution of Maine's annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration, the letterwinner recognition ceremony of select female student-athletes who competed from 1971-74, and has designed and facilitated staff retreat programming for further development and to create cohesiveness throughout the department.
Simpson, who excelled as a field hockey student-athlete during her three-year Hall of Fame career at UAlbany, served as Maine's associate head field hockey coach from 2017 through the 2025 fall season where she guided the Black Bears to the 2021 America East Championship, and a berth in the NCAA tournament, along with regular season titles in 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022. While at Maine, Simpson was a part of three (2020, 2021, 2022) America East coaching staff of the year honors.
Prior to her time at Maine, Simpson served as an assistant field hockey coach from 2009-17 for her alma mater, UAlbany. At UAlbany, Simpson mentored the Great Danes to four America East titles and four America East regular season titles. In 2014, Simpson played a large role in guiding UAlbany to the Final Four; the first team at UAlbany in the Division-I era to accomplish the feat.
As a student-athlete at UAlbany, Simpson was a two-time (2007, 2008) America East Field Hockey Player of the Year recipient and was inducted into the UAlbany Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. Simpson guided the Great Danes to their first America East championship in 2008 and was also the program's first All-American, earning the honor twice in 2007 and again in 2008.
Simpson earned a Bachelor of Science in sport and exercise (sports studies) from the University of Teesside in 2006 before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in sociology, with a minor in psychology, from UAlbany in 2009. Simpson went on to earn her Master of Education in exercise science from UMaine in 2021.
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