Debbie Warren was named the Indiana Tech Director of Athletics in July 2015 and will retire from her position on June 5, 2020, capping a 40-plus year career in college athletics, where she has worked at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels along with her time in the Fort Wayne.
Warren earned numerous awards and honors during her last year with the Warriors as she was named one of 28 recipients of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Under Armour AD of the Year and the winner of the 2019-20 Terry Bocian Athletics Director of the Year honor presented by Kuhn Specialty Flooring. She was also received the Indiana Tech President's Medal, given to one staff or faculty member each year by the president in honor of their service to the community.
Under her direction, Indiana Tech won six national championships (men's ice hockey, 2019; men's indoor track and field, 2016, 2017, 2019; men's outdoor track and field, 2016; women's indoor track and field, 2017) and won 19 individual national champions (men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, women's golf, wrestling). 288 student-athletes have been garnered All-American honors while 28 teams have qualified for postseason play. The Warriors have risen to the top in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) as well under Warren as the university has won three consecutive Fred Smith WHAC All-Sports Trophies (2017-19) while the men's wrestling team has won the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships for the past two seasons.
Tech has finished first or second in the Fred Smith WHAC All-Sports Trophy standings every year under Warren, with the Orange and Black taking second her first year before winning the 2016-17 trophy with a record 110 points, taking down six-time defending champion Davenport in their final year as a member of the conference. Tech repeated as the WHAC All-Sports Champions following the 2017-18 year with 101.5 points, splitting the trophy with Madonna and marking the first time there had been a tie for the title. The Warriors depended their trophy for the third straight season in the 2018-19 academic year with 119 points thanks to 10 conference titles and six conference tournament titles. The All-Sports Trophy was not award for the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the vast majority of the spring sports seasons and winter championships.
The athletics department has also finished inside the top-10 of the Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings each season, cementing itself as one of the elite programs in the NAIA. Tech has finished sixth three times under Warren's leadership (2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19) and was eighth following the 2017-18 year. The Learfield IMG Directors' Cup was not award for the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the vast majority of the spring sports seasons and winter championships.
In addition to success on the playing field, Warren oversaw excellence in the classroom as well, with 325 student-athletes being named NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 29 CoSIDA Academic All-District selections, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and four CoSIDA Academic All-Americans of the Year. The department as whole has finished with over a 3.0 GPA every year while 69 programs have been named NAIA Scholar-Teams, with the 2016-17 women's golf team taking home Scholar-Team of the Year honors with a NAIA-best 3.90 GPA.
Outside of her duties as the Athletics Director, she also leads the Warrior Pep Band in cheering on the Orange and Black during basketball season, and serves on a multiple of committees across campus, including the Strategic Planning Taskforce, the Risk Management Committee and several staff and faculty search committees. She attends every home varsity event that she can, and can be seen proudly shouting "Go Warriors!" at any game, event or meeting on campus.
Warren has served as the head AD at three NCAA schools prior to her arrival in Fort Wayne: Marymount University (2010-15), Hartwick College (2005-10) and Chowan University (2002-05). She also served as the interim Title IX coordinator at Marymount and spent 16 years the University of Alabama from 1985-2001, rising to a Senior Associate AD and serving on four NCAA Championship Committees. She started her career as a coach and administrator at the University of Mount Union in 1980.
A native of Westerville, Ohio, Warren received her Bachelor's in Education from the University of Mount Union and a Masters in Education Administration from Youngstown State University.
She currently lives in Fort Wayne.
