Leah Nilsson, an associate director of membership services at the NCAA national office and Division III governance liaison since 2003, has been promoted to director of Division III. Nilsson replaces Bridget Belgiovine, who left the national office to become the athletics director at Wellesley College in August.

Nilsson will support Division III’s primary governance units (the Management and Presidents Councils) and help coordinate governance activities and education sessions that occur at the annual NCAA Convention. She also will work with the office of diversity and inclusion and Division III conferences to advance Division III strategic initiatives, including the Strategic Initiatives Grant Program, and help manage the division’s operating budget.

Before she became an associate director, Nilsson spent a year as an assistant director in membership services, working with Division I initial-eligibility and progress-toward-degree waivers, among other duties. She was a membership services intern before that.

She began her career as an engineering administrator with the General Mills company in Minneapolis.

Nilsson has a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Indiana University in Indianapolis. She was a track student-athlete at Michigan State and a member of the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She also served as a student-athlete representative on the Division I Committee on Financial Aid.