Cornell University Athletics

Dr. Greg Shelley, a nationally-renowned professor, author and speaker in the realm of leadership, team building, motivation and sport psychology, joined Cornell athletics as the department's first Senior Director of Sports Leadership and Mental Conditioning in August of 2022. He had previously served as a consultant for multiple Big Red teams.
 
Shelley is tasked with educating and training student-athletes, teams, coaches and staff in the areas of leadership, motivation, team building, culture and character development, communication, conflict resolution, managing performance pressures and training resiliency and mental toughness. As part of the role, he has established a comprehensive Leadership Training Program ( Leadership Academy) that builds leadership skills from beginner to captain and senior leaders.
 
In collaboration with other campus partners, Shelley also provides performance enhancement and mental conditioning skills training to student-athletes, teams and coaches to positively impact and optimize the intercollegiate athlete and coach experience, in and away from sport.
 
In his most recent role at Ithaca College, Shelley served as an Associate Professor for Exercise Science and Athletic Training with specialties in sport psychology, leadership, team building and motivation. He also served as Director of Ithaca College's Leadership Academy, where he worked with more than 300 student-athletes and 40 coaches yearly.
 
Shelley has worked as a consultant for numerous collegiate athletic departments, including directing or co-directing several Division I sports leadership academies through his work as owner and operator of Rise Above Performance Consulting.  In other ventures, he has contributed to the pioneering effort in "cross-over" applications of Sports Psychology and Mindset Conditioning science to broader Life Style behavioral and habit changing protocols.
 
Shelley earned a degree in psychology from the University of Nebraska in 1988 and a master's in sports psychology from the University of Iowa in 1990. He graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy with an emphasis in sport psychology and psychosocial aspects of sport from the University of Utah in 1997.

The position of Senior Director of Sports Leadership and Mindset Conditioning serving Cornell Athletics was made possible by the philanthropy of Robert '70 BA ' 72 MBA and Maura Dughi '72 Human Ecology.