Janna Blais

As Deputy Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator at Northwestern, Blais leads and manages five departments for the Wildcats: compliance, academic services and student development, sports medicine, sports performance, and the David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program. She serves as the department's liaison at Big Ten and NCAA meetings, and internally, is the liaison to the admissions, financial aid, provost, general counsel, dean of students and student conduct offices, as well as the Committee for Athletics and Recreation (CAR). Blais also manages and leads the sport administrator program for the department and works directly with women’s basketball and the women’s lacrosse program. 
 
Before Northwestern, Blais spent over a decade at Bowling Green University as the Senior Associate AD/SWA.  A native of Lakeville, Mass., Blais earned her undergraduate degree in sports medicine/athletic training in 1993 and a master’s degree in sport management, both from the University of Connecticut.  At UCONN, she played softball, and served as captain as a senior, helping the team to a fifth-place finish in the Women's College World Series. In her final two seasons, she was named East Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year while earning All-America honors. She also was named Big East Player of the Year three times in her career.