Robert D. Cornell
Director
29th Year

Prior to being named Sports Information Director at Colgate in May of 1976, Cornell held positions as Assistant Sports Information Director at Princeton University and Sports Information Director at the University of New Haven.

In July of 2001, Cornell was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors Association Hall of Fame.  On September 19, 2003 he was inducted into the SUNY-Cobleskill Athletic Hall of Fame and on Dec. 4, 2003 he received the Scoop Hudgins Outstanding Sports Information Director Award from the All-American Football Foundation.

During his career in the sports information field, he has served as a press liaison for numerous NCAA and ECAC championships and regional events, including Media Coordinator of the NCAA Division I Golf Championships in 1977.

He served on the press liaison staff for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the 1984 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.  In addition, he was on the press liaison staff at four Olympic Festivals (1981, '82, '83, '87).

He has served on the Site Selection, Post-Graduate Scholarship, and Ethics Committees of the College Sports Information Directors of America. Cornell is a past president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association, and the 1992 recipient of the Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award, presented annually to the sports information director who has contributed the most to the work of the Bureau during the year and throughout his or her career.

A native of Rochester, New York, Cornell received his B.A. in Business Administration from the University of New Haven and an AAS in Business Administration from SUNY-Cobleskill.  He holds membership in several professional organizations.  Cornell resides in Hamilton with his wife Shirley and their two children, Rob and Ashley.

Michele Kelley
Assistant Director
2nd Year

Michele Kelley is in her first year as the assistant director of athletic communications at Colgate, and her second year working full-time with the Raiders. She works primarily with the men's ice hockey, field hockey, women's lacrosse and men's and women's swimming and diving teams.

Before returning to Colgate, Kelley worked as a graduate assistant in the Athletic Communications Office at Syracuse University for two years.  At Syracuse, she handled the day-to-day media and public relations duties for the men’s crew, women’s tennis, volleyball, cross country and track and field teams. In addition, she worked closely with the 2002-03 Orange men’s basketball team that won the program’s first NCAA Championship, and assisted with the football and women’s basketball teams. For two years, she was also the official statistician for the SU men’s lacrosse team, which won the program’s ninth national championship in 2004.

As an undergraduate, Kelley worked for two years as a student assistant in Colgate’s Athletic Communications Office. During that time, she managed the public and media relations responsibilities for the field hockey, women’s ice hockey and women’s lacrosse teams, and assisted with the volleyball and men’s ice hockey programs. She returned to Colgate during the summer of 2003 for an internship, during which she helped with several graphic design projects in the department.

Kelley is an active member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), and serves on the Academic All-America committee. In 2002, she received the Wylie T. Smith Post-Graduate Scholarship from CoSIDA, as well as the Bill Esposito Award from ECAC-SIDA.

Kelley graduated from Colgate in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and religion. In 2004, she received her master’s degree in public relations from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication.

Kelley is single and resides in Hamilton.

Lisa Diehl
Administrative Assistant
16th Year

Lisa Diehl is in her 17th year as the Athletic Communications Administrative Assistant.  She is responsible for the day-to-day clerical management of the office and the distribution of the Athletic Council newsletter as well as assisting with the maintenance of the athletics website.  She also coordinates the distribution of press credentials and stats at football games and helps to organize and supervise the office's 23-member student staff.

Diehl resides in Madison with her husband Keith and their two sons, Ryan and Dylan.