Michelle Almazan currently serves as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Affairs and Academic Services, and Senior Woman Administrator and is thrilled to lead our distinguished Highlander Athletics program during this transition as the Interim Director of Athletics. She succeeds Wes Mallette, who has served our student-athletes and university with energy, passion, and distinction.
Almazan joined UC Riverside in 2015 as Director of Student-Athlete Academic Services and, since 2018, has served as Assistant Athletics Director before stepping into her current senior role. At UCR, she has provided leadership across academic services, student and staff development, and many internal operations while directly supervising eight varsity programs, representing more than one-third of Highlander student-athletes. She has also been a central driver in NCAA Transformation Committee updates, NIL partnerships, conference engagement, and campus integration, ensuring athletics remains mission-focused and aligned with the university’s broader goals.
During her tenure, UCR Athletics has achieved record academic success, with all 17 teams maintaining cumulative GPAs around 3.20. She has successfully recruited and retained top coaches, expanded student-athlete life skills programming, implemented cost-containment strategies during budget challenges, and represented UCR at the UC Regents on the evolving Division I landscape. At the conference level, she previously served on the Big West Executive Council and as Chair of the Big West Senior Woman Administrators group.
Prior to UCR, Almazan spent nearly a decade at California State University, Northridge, where she co-authored a $1M NCAA grant to establish the Matador Achievement Center and worked as an academic advisor for multiple sports. A former Division I track and field and cross-country student-athlete, she earned both her B.A. in sport psychology and M.S. in marriage and family therapy from CSUN. Her leadership is deeply influenced by her own journey as a first-generation college student-athlete and guided by her values of integrity, purpose, and people-first decision-making.
Outside of work, Almazan is a devoted wife, mother, and endurance athlete who loves the outdoors and camping. She and her husband Juan, a physical therapist, reside in Southern California, where they enjoy supporting their daughters Elena, a volleyball and flag football player, and Amelia, a competitive gymnast, along with their shared involvement in the performing arts.
With her deep experience and more than a decade of commitment to UC Riverside, Almazan will ensure continuity for our programs and provide strong support for our student-athletes, coaches, and staff.
