Bentley Names BC’s Vaughn Williams as New Athletics Director

Vaughn Williams, a senior associate athletics director at Boston College, has been named the new athletics director at Bentley University. He brings more than 25 years of experience in sports administration and will begin in mid-September. 

As athletics director, Williams will lead a program featuring 23 varsity sports and offering a competitive experience for more than 500 Bentley student-athletes. These student-athletes are consistently ranked among the best in the nation for academic success.  

“Today begins a new era for Bentley University Athletics,” said Vice President for Student Affairs J. Andrew Shepardson, who led a year-long strategic review of Bentley Athletics and the search that led to Williams’ hiring. “Bentley’s vision for athletics is to boldly pursue excellence in competition while building pride and tradition for our entire community, and Vaughn Williams is the leader to help us achieve that vision. I am excited to partner with Vaughn in the continued development of our student-athletes as leaders inside and outside the classroom.” 

At Boston College, Williams served as senior associate athletics director for administration and assistant athletics director. He also served as director of athletics at Kennesaw State University, where he created the football and women’s lacrosse programs and was named 2016-17 Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.  

At Bentley, Williams will oversee a program that recently completed a new strategic plan, based on input from across the university, that sets out the mission, vision and values for Bentley Athletics for the next five years.  

“I want to thank Vice President Shepardson for entrusting me with the opportunity to lead Bentley Athletics into the future,” said Williams. “This is a tremendous opportunity in an unprecedented time to build on the university’s commitment to providing student-athletes with an experience that leads them to life-long success. I’m looking forward to serving Bentley student-athletes and helping them to be a force in everything they do, on and off the playing fields.” 

Williams’ experience also includes the role of associate athletics director at the University of Connecticut. He received his undergraduate degree from UMass Amherst, where he played football, and his master’s degree from Boston College. At Bentley, he succeeds Bob DeFelice, who had served as athletics director since 1991.