Marlene Dixon ’93, a Leader in Global Sport Management

Marlene (Link) Dixon ’93, Ph.D., is a world traveler, but she does not just go sightseeing.

Dixon, the head of the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management at Texas A&M University, is dedicated to improving the quality of life from a local to a global level. Dixon and her colleagues accomplish this task by making presentations at conferences in the United States and around the world.

“My personal mission is to walk alongside participants and managers in sport organizations to build capacity and help them achieve their personal goals and organizational goals,” says Dixon,  who was appointed department head in June 2023, after serving on an interim basis. “As a department head, the work is similar. I help remove barriers and provide support so that our faculty and students can achieve their work in research and education. I want our department to be a global thought leader in the science and application of sport and human performance.”

As an example, a group of Aggie faculty and students recently traveled to Geelong, Victoria, Australia, near Melbourne, for the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand’s annual conference. Along with networking and culture-building, presentations and lectures were the order of the day in the city famous for sports and leisure.

Dixon first became interested in sport management while serving as the assistant volleyball and basketball coach at Southwestern University from 1995-99. She completed a master’s in kinesiology and sport administration in 1998 from the University of Texas at Austin while working as a Southwestern coach and then earned her doctoral degree in 2002 from Ohio State University.

Dixon was a graduate teaching assistant at Ohio State and has taught at Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Troy University in Alabama. She joined the A&M faculty as a professor in 2016, then served as graduate chair and chair of the Division of Sport Management before being elevated to her current position as department head.

Dixon explains her work centers on three major themes: student engagement, mentoring, and experiences; sport for development; and work-life balance for sport employees.

“I usually go to two national-level conferences a year and one international, with regard to sport management,” Dixon says. “In addition, I typically try to get all or part of an education abroad experience every year, just to stay connected to students, especially undergraduates. Then, I do at least one outreach-type trip per year to connect with sport partners around the nation and world.”

According to Dixon, some of her most memorable trips have been to Europe, including Bonn, Germany; Bern, Switzerland; Innsbruck, Austria; and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Central and South America have been staples for program partners. Kenya has also been on her itinerary for many years, as her team works with several girls’ basketball programs in the informal settlements in Nairobi.

Last summer, Dixon joined a study trip to Rome, Florence, and Sorrento, Italy, with members of the Texas A&M women’s basketball team, where she taught a class on a multilevel approach to understanding global women’s sport participation.

Dixon has been heavily involved with the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), where she served as president of the organization. In 2020, she received the prestigious NASSM Earle F. Zeigler Lecture Award “for significant contributions to the field of sport management in terms of scholarship, research, and leadership as recognized by peers.”

Collaboration is a key factor in the sport management field, and she has worked with some Trinity University personnel who are strong advocates for global education in sport management, such as Jacob Tingle ’95, Ed.D., associate professor of business administration and sport management program director, and Angela Breidenstein ’91, M’92, Ed.D., professor of education.

Another Trinity colleague who has been a professor of the practice at A&M since 2022 is Becky Geyer, who served as Dixon’s basketball coach at Trinity during her undergraduate days. Geyer led the women’s basketball team from 1992 to 2005, coaching the team to the 2003 NCAA Division III National Championship. Currently, Geyer works extensively with A&M students setting up their capstone projects.

Dixon was a talented guard on the basketball team during Geyer’s first season and was her assistant for the next two years. She also helped with the softball program.

“Marlene made significant contributions to our program at Trinity University, first as an athlete and later as a coach,” Geyer says. “Her dedication to excellence and commitment to the program’s growth were key in establishing the foundation that ultimately led to our championship in 2003.”

A versatile student-athlete, Dixon was also a defensive specialist for volleyball and competed on the track and field team.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Dixon was recruited for volleyball by legendary coach Julie Jenkins. Dixon says she was attracted to the “vibrant science program that offered opportunities for undergraduate research, a lot of support for writing, and engaged faculty.”

A 1993 magna cum laude graduate of Trinity majoring in biology and sociology, Dixon received the President’s Scholarship and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Lambda Delta.

In addition to Geyer and Jenkins, her favorite mentors at Trinity were Sheryl Tynes, Ph.D.; John Burke, Ph.D.; Meredith McGuire, Ph.D.; Robert Blystone, Ph.D.; and Peter Balbert, Ph.D.

“In your undergrad, learn how to think, learn how to write, learn how to persevere. Those are all the tools you need for success in any field or profession,” Dixon advises students who are contemplating a career in sport management.

Dixon and her husband, Stuart, have two sons, Justin and Cody, and a daughter, Avery. They reside in College Station, Texas.