Mollie Marcoux Samaan '91

Position
Ford Family Director of Athletics, Princeton University
Bio/Description

Mollie Marcoux Samaan is the director of athletics for Princeton University. During her first 5 years, she has overseen a department responsible for 59 Ivy League championships and the highest ranked Ivy League School in the Directors’ Cup standings. Marcoux Samaan is committed to the well-rounded experience of the student-athlete that is summed by the motto of “Education Through Athletics” that provides the opportunity for Princeton student-athletes to "Achieve, Serve, and Lead" all while upholding the values of the "Be A TIGER" program. Aside from the hiring of 13 head coaches, she has also overseen various facility projects including the "bubble" over Powers Field at Princeton Stadium. She graduated cum laude from Princeton in 1991 where she was a two-sport varsity athlete competing in ice hockey and soccer after majoring in history and writing her thesis on the history of women in sports from 1895 to 1946. As a senior, she was awarded the C. Otto von Kienbusch Sportswoman of the Year Award for "high scholastic rank, sportsmanship and general excellence in athletics" and the Patty Kazmaier Award as a member of the ice hockey team who made the greatest contribution to the program. Following graduation, Marcoux Samaan served as assistant athletic director, assistant dean of admissions, assistant housemaster and coach of girls' ice hockey and soccer at the Lawrenceville School. In her honor, Lawrenceville established the Mollie Marcoux Award to recognize the female hockey player who best exemplifies excellence in athletics and academics.