The 2025-26 athletic year marks the tenth year for Mary Rob Plunkett at the University of North Georgia as she was promoted to Athletic Director in December of 2020 after serving as the Associate Athletic Director, Business since June of 2018.
She is only the fourth athletic director in the history of North Georgia athletics and provides leadership for 13 NCAA Division II sports, 50+ athletic department employees, ten facilities and over 250 student-athletes. Plunkett serves on the President's cabinet for the University in her role.
Prior to Plunkett's promotion in 2021, UNG had made 45 appearances in an NCAA Tournament, won 32 Peach Belt Conference championships and claimed one national title in 15 years as an NCAA Division II member. Since 2021, the Nighthawks have conquered the PBC 21 times and have appeared in 39 NCAA Tournaments, accounting for 44.8 percent of NCAA postseason appearances in the school's history.
This includes three different National Championships with Pole Vault National Champion Journey Gurley winning the individual crown in 2021, the UNG softball team climbing the mountaintop in 2023 and Hunter Smith earning the DII Men's Golf Individual National Championship in 2025.
Thirteen of UNG's 23 (56.5 percent) NCAA National Championship appearances have come under Plunkett's leadership of the department.
She is currently serving on the Women's Golf Regional Advisory Committee.
Plunkett is a 2020 graduate of the Leadership Enhancement Institute. In April 2019, Plunkett received UNG's Advisor of the Year Award at the university's annual Blue & Gold Awards for her leadership efforts with the department's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
She came to UNG following administrative positions within athletics at Auburn and North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Plunkett joined the Auburn staff as the director of golf operations for two seasons after serving as the assistant director of athletic event management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she coordinated and managed events and supervised game day staff.
Plunkett earned a master's degree in exercise and sport science, sport administration from UNC Chapel Hill, and earned her Masters in Business Administration from Georgia Tech. She earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Georgia College & State University, where she was a four-time letterman and team captain on the women's soccer team. She was selected as a NSCAA third-team All-America, as well as a first-team Academic All-American in 2009. In 2021, she was inducted into the GCSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
She carries active administrative professional development memberships in NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) and D2 Athletic Directors Association (D2ADA).
Plunkett resides in Gainesville.
Updated: June 2025
