United States Sports Academy alumna and faculty member Dr. Bonnie Tiell is set to teach a one-week sport governance seminar in the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of that nation’s Bahrain Sport Summit in February.
The seminar is meant to provide students in Bahrain with an opportunity to critically evaluate, develop, and practice the skills of governance, marketing, and strategy required in the sports industry. The seminar pulls educational content from three USSA graduate-level courses in sports marketing, sport organization governance, and strategic management.
Dr. Bonnie Tiell
Tiell is a professor of sports management at Tiffin (Ohio) University. She earned her Doctor of Education degree in sports management and human resources from the Academy. She was also recognized as the institution’s 2014 Alumna of Year. As a member of the Academy’s national faculty – a distinguished group of instructors credentialed to teach the institution’s international sports education programs abroad – she has taught in Bangkok, Thailand, several times, including most recently in March 2019.
She has been widely recognized for her contributions to intercollegiate athletic administration and global sports governance. Tiell is the founder and co-director of the Olympic Academic Experience (OAE), a program through Tiffin University that offers students from around the world the opportunity for on-site study of the organization, supervision, and management of international sport venues and elite competition in an Olympic host city. She is also co-founder of a humanitarian program for underprivileged youth in Olympic host cities with two-time Olympian, Dr. Francis Dove-Edwin, who serves as co-director.
Tiell received Tiffin University’s Provost Award in 2017, the highest recognition for faculty at the institution. In 2016, she was recognized as Woman of the Year in Sports by the Cleveland Chapter of Women in Sports and Events (WISE). Tiell also received the Donahue Service Award in 2013 from NCAA II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.
In her faculty role at Tiffin University, Tiell served as the NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative, Dean of Graduate Studies, and MBA Chair. She also taught in the Executive MBA program in Bucharest, Romania. Prior to her faculty appointment, Tiell served as Senior Woman Administrator and an assistant athletic director. She is a member of the TU Hall of Fame for her extensive coaching accolades. She has coached volleyball, softball (1993 national qualifier), and tennis (2006 national qualifier) for Tiffin University. She also coached briefly at Alfred University in New York (volleyball and track) and at Peace College in North Carolina (basketball – assistant).
Founded half a century ago, the Academy has delivered quality sport education and service programs in 67 countries around the world. These have varied in scope from the full-charge conduct of a nation’s entire national sport effort to individual coaching clinics, seminars and symposia. As a not-for-profit, independent school of sport, the Academy has been able to provide a combination of expertise expected from a sports university combined with the experience gleaned from applying expertise in this field.
