Moles Receives WEEK 25 Women in Leadership Award

Heather Moles is in her 13th year helping Bradley University student-athletes achieve their academic goals

WEEK Profile

Bobby Parker, Associate AD for Communications Academics & Student Development 8/5/2020 12:50:00 PM

EAST PEORIA, IL – Heather Moles, Director of Academic Services for Bradley University Athletics, has been recognized by local NBC-TV affiliate WEEK as one of 25 Women in Leadership, according to the television station's on-going reveal of its annual award program.

The WEEK 25 Women in Leadership Award annually recognizes women who have demonstrated unswerving dedication to the betterment of their family, their company and their community at large. Now in her 13th year overall working with the Braves, Moles is her 11th year serving as the primary academic advisor for the Bradley men's and women's basketball teams.

"I have first-hand knowledge of the degree of care that Heather has for her family, community, our student-athletes and for their futures," said Bradley Men's Basketball Head Coach Brian Wardle. "Her concern for ensuring that these student-athletes have success on the court, in the classroom and in the community is driven by her actions, not words; she leads by example. She listens, encourages and motivates these student-athletes to reach their potential by developing great relationships with them."

"Heather has gone above and beyond to serve the student-athletes at Bradley University," said Bradley Women's Basketball Head Coach Andrea Gorski. "A typical academic coordinator ensures student-athletes are staying on track to graduate and maintaining her eligibility. Heather takes her role to whole new level. She works daily with our team and pushes the individually to reach their own unique goals."

For the third consecutive year in 2020, Bradley was the only Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball program to receive the NCAA APR Public Recognition Award for ranking among the nation's top 10 percent in the sport in the annual Academic Progress Rate and the Braves are among just nine programs to receive the Public Recognition Award while winning at least 20 games in each of the last three seasons. In addition to the climbing records for team grade point average achieved by both programs, the Bradley Basketball student-athletes have received numerous honors under Moles' tutelage:

Six Bradley Men's and Women's Basketball student-athletes have been national candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award with Dodie Dunson (2011) and Chelsea Brackmann (2020) both earning second-team Senior CLASS Award All-America recognition.
Walt Lemon, Jr. was the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year.
Luuk van Bree (2019) and Ari Boya (2020) received the last two MVC Men's Basketball Elite 17 Awards as the student-athlete with the highest GPA to compete in the Arch Madness championship game.
The Braves have received eight I-AAA Athletic Director's Association Scholar All-American awards (Bradley's three honorees in 2020 –Brackmann, Gabi Haack and Nate Kennell – equaled the most combined awards in the nation this past season).
This past season, Kennell joined former women's basketball players Jenny Van Kirk (2009 and 2010) and Renee Frericks (2010) as College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-Region 5 selections.

"Heather is like a mother to me; she has a big heart and cares about others more than herself," said former Bradley Men's Basketball student-athlete Koch Bar '20. "Being an international student, I had a different experience with her. English is my second language and I knew coming to college I would struggle. I had my doubts if I was going to graduate or not, but Heather guided me through it every day for the past four years. She always was putting me in the best position possible to succeed in my classes and also in my basketball career. She's the one person I always go to for advice or words of wisdom when I'm struggling and she never disappointed. Even though I sometimes gave her a hard time, she never gave up on me and I appreciate that about her."

A native of San Jose, Calif., Moles graduated from Duke University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in biological anthropology and anatomy. She also earned a minor in primatology. A four-time letterwinner on the Blue Devils field hockey team, Moles was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1992 and held the Duke record for career saves. She also owned three of the top five season save totals in program history.

Moles went on to earn a master's degree in applied anthropology in 2004 and later earned a second master's degree in physical anthropology in November 2005. After coaching stints at Stanford (1996-99), USA Field Hockey (1997-2002), Northwestern (1999-00) and Boston University (2000-02), Moles moved into the academic realm.

Moles was a teaching fellow from 2002-04 at Boston University, where she taught sections of Anthropology 102 while working toward her master's degree. She had a research fellowship at Boston University, where she co-authored a grant proposal focusing on the mutability of SIV to HIV. She also served as summer faculty at BU, teaching Anthropology 210.

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