Dr. Bridget Niland, dean of Niagara University’s College of Hospitality, Sport, and Tourism Management, will be inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday, Nov. 12, during a ceremony at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, 153 Franklin Street Buffalo, N.Y.,14202. She is one of 12 members of the 2024 class.
Dr. Niland is being honored for an athletic career that spans decades, which began as a student at Williamsville South High School and continued during her studies at the University of Buffalo, where she played an early role in the Bull’s run to Division I, broke school records, won individual conference championships, and captained the conference championship track and cross-country teams. She also served as chair of the NCAA’s National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was the first student-athlete appointed to its Division I Management Council.
After college, Dr. Niland continued running, winning the Buffalo Marathon back-to-back in 1997 and 1998 and gaining a top-5 finish at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. She is a three-time winner of Buffalo’s Chase Corporate Challenge and was the Buffalo News Runner of the Year in 1999, earning the same honor from the DC Road Runners in 2001.
After attorney positions with the U.S. Justice Department, Dr. Niland joined the NCAA’s national office staff, ascending to various management roles within the academic and legislative affairs unit. Returning to Buffalo, she became a tenured sport management professor and published author at Daemen College, eventually leading its transition to the school’s NCAA Division II membership. As Daemen’s director of athletics, Niland created its nationally recognized Center for Allied Unified Sports and Exercise or CAUSE. She also chaired the Buffalo Sports Commission, attracting several conference and NCAA championship events to WNY, and was the inaugural director of Project Play WNY, an initiative of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation.
Dr. Niland was inducted into the UB Athletics and WNY Running Halls of Fame and is a member of the Williamsville Central Schools Wall of Fame.
Please email Alicia Sammarco at asammarco@niagara.edu if you want to attend the Nov. 12 event.