The Fredonia State Athletic Department has appointed Angela Pucciarelli Rice and Patrick Gondek as Interim Co-Directors of Athletics.
Pucciarelli Rice, who has served as Assistant Athletic Director with compliance oversight and as the department’s Senior Woman Administrator since 2018, will continue in these roles while co-directing the department.
Pucciarelli Rice earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Learning and Leadership from Gannon University in 2025, with her research focusing on the leadership experiences of Senior Woman Administrators (SWAs) in intercollegiate athletics. A proud Fredonia native and 2009 graduate of Fredonia State, she also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Medaille College (magna cum laude, 2013), and an Associate in Science in Business Administration from Jamestown Community College.
As a student-athlete, Pucciarelli Rice played women's basketball at both JCC and Fredonia State, scoring over 1,000 combined career points. She earned NJCAA Academic All-American honors and athletic all-conference awards at both institutions, and was an active member of Fredonia’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Her professional journey began with a marketing and sales internship at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, followed by a graduate assistantship in athletic administration at Hilbert College. She then served as Assistant Director of Athletics and Academic Compliance at Jamestown Community College from 2013 to 2018, before returning to Fredonia.
In her current role, Pucciarelli Rice oversees NCAA compliance education and academic monitoring, sport supervision, facility rentals and reservations, and contributes to various department initiatives. Her campus-wide involvement includes service on numerous committees such as the Council for Women’s Concerns, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Council, Title IX Task Force, Student Affairs DEIAB Council, and more. She also serves as a UUP Delegate.
Pucciarelli Rice is active in the broader community, having served on the boards of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame, Chautauqua County Youth Bureau, and the Young Professionals of Northern Chautauqua County. She leads the annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day event at Fredonia, engaging local youth with the campus athletics community. Additionally, she teaches as an adjunct instructor in Fredonia’s Sport Management Department.
Professionally, she is a member of Women Leaders in Sports, the National Association for Athletics Compliance, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the NCAA Senior Woman Administrators Program, and the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators.
In 2022, Pucciarelli Rice was selected as one of 30 professionals nationwide to attend the NCAA Division III Senior Woman Administrator Program in Indianapolis. That same year, she was honored by the Zonta Club of Jamestown as a Woman in Leadership for her commitment to elevating women and advancing gender equity in the community.
She resides in Fredonia with her husband, Kyle, and their triplet children: Emma, Hannah, and Madeline
