SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame Athletics Senior Deputy Athletics Director for Industry and Campus Engagement Missy Conboy, a 39-year veteran of the Notre Dame Athletic Department staff, announced her upcoming retirement today. She will conclude her career at Notre Dame on June 30, 2026.
“Missy’s contribution to Notre Dame Athletics has benefitted five directors of athletics, hundreds of administrators and professionals, and most importantly countless student-athletes over her nearly 40 years of service to Notre Dame,” University Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua said. “Her impact on the college sports industry as a whole is widespread, and the respect she has garnered is due to her passion for student-athletes, commitment to service and astute leadership in a landscape that is ever-changing.”
Conboy has held numerous roles within Notre Dame Athletics and currently oversees industry and campus engagement. She is the University’s primary liaison to both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and has served as the Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) for all 39 years of her tenure. She also represents the University as the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for Athletics. After the departure of Dr. Kevin White in 2008, University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., appointed Conboy as interim director of athletics prior to the hiring of Jack Swarbrick. Over her career, she served as sport administrator for 16 Notre Dame men’s and women’s programs and is currently the sport administrator for the volleyball program. Conboy is also a liaison to both the Athletic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty Board on Athletics.
Within the intercollegiate athletics community, Conboy has served on several industry committees, including nine years on the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions. In addition to terms on the NCAA Legislative Review Committee, the NCAA Men’s Tennis Committee and numerous committee assignments in three different athletic conferences, she served on the board of the National Association of Collegiate Athletic Directors and on the Women Leaders in Sports Executive Committee.
“As an ‘Army Brat’ who moved often during my growing-up years, I never imagined putting down deep roots in a single community. But Notre Dame is a special place for so many, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived, worked and raised my family under the Golden Dome,” Conboy shared. “Professionally, I’ve treasured the access to an array of amazing campus, alumni, industry and community leaders. Personally, my family has been nurtured, mentored and embraced by this place we call home, and everyone associated with it. It has been an unexpected and unforgettable journey.”
While Conboy was initially hired in 1987 to set up Notre Dame’s inaugural compliance program, she served in a leadership role in nearly every internal area within athletics throughout her career, including legal, Title IX, business operations, human resources, athletic performance, student-athlete development, facilities, master planning, capital projects, events and community outreach.
During her 15 years of leadership in capital projects, Conboy made an indelible and lasting impact on the athletic landscape of campus. She was the athletics lead for major renovations of Purcell Pavilion, Rolfs Athletic Hall and Notre Dame Stadium (2017). In addition, she oversaw planning and construction of major varsity facilities including Alumni Stadium, Arlotta Stadium, Compton Family Ice Arena, the Harris Family Track and Field Facility, the McConnell Family Boathouse and the Irish Athletics Center Indoor Facility.
Conboy has also played a critical role in the growth of women’s athletics at Notre Dame. Conboy was a four-year member of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team from 1978-82, during the team’s transition to a Division I program, serving as team captain her senior year. Less than 20 years later, while serving as women’s basketball sport administrator, she celebrated the team’s first national championship.
To recognize 50 Years of Title IX in 2022, Conboy worked with the Monogram Club to honor over 200 women from both Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College responsible for founding the first women’s club sports and interest groups at Notre Dame. Most recently, Conboy led Notre Dame’s Cheer Her Name initiative, overseeing a celebration throughout the 2025-26 academic year of all those who contributed to the remarkable success of Notre Dame’s women’s varsity athletics programs over the past 50 years.
Conboy has been honored with a number of awards during her career, including the Notre Dame Alumni Association James E. Armstrong Award, conferred annually on an alum who is a current or former employee of Notre Dame who has rendered distinguished service to the University. She was recently honored with both the 2024 Beth Holtz Award, presented by Holtz’s Heroes, and the 2023 Knute Rockne Memorial Society Leadership Award.
“Missy has been a personal and professional role model for me throughout our relationship, both as a student-athlete and colleague, and there are not adequate words to express the appreciation for the care, compassion and wisdom she has provided student-athletes over the past 39 years,” said Haley Scott DeMaria, former Notre Dame Swimming student-athlete and past president of the Monogram Club. “She is a mentor to many, a friend to all, and has displayed unwavering dedication to this institution throughout her tenure.”
Conboy graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in English in 1982 and earned her juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1985. She spent two years on the NCAA Enforcement Staff before returning to her alma mater. Conboy is married to Bill Mountford, a 1983 U.S. Naval Academy graduate and a 1991 graduate of Notre Dame’s MBA school. The couple has three daughters: Darby (ND ’16 and a tennis Monogram winner), Delaney (ND ’20 MSM) and Killian Rose (ND ’21).