New Director of Athletics Gavin Viano on Leading a New Era for Trinity Athletics

Annika Haley ’26

Sports Editor

Trinity College has welcomed Gavin Viano as its new director of athletics. Viano officially began at Trinity on Aug. 4, 2025, bringing with him more than a decade of experience leading successful Division III athletic programs.

Viano was named Director of Athletics and Recreation at Wheaton College in 2020 and promoted to Associate Vice President of Strategic Programs in 2022. Before Wheaton, he served as Associate Athletic Director for Development at Davidson College from 2015-2020, leading a $60 million fundraising campaign to improve facilities and enhance the student-athlete experience. From 2010 to 2015, he was Senior Managing Director of Athletics Fundraising at Dartmouth College, where he increased annual giving and expanded the donor base.

Viano earned a B.A. in history from Clark University, where he was a captain of the men’s swimming and diving team. He later received an M.S. in sports management from Drexel University. 

To learn more about his vision beyond the accolades on his résumé, the Tripod spoke with Viano regarding what he hopes to bring to Trinity and his goals for the athletic department.

When asked what excites him most about leading Trinity athletics, he emphasized both maintaining and building on the program’s strong tradition: “Obviously the school and athletic department have proven that they can be nationally successful,” he said. “I think a main priority is to maintain, but also boost the excellence throughout the department. I think we need to constantly ask ourselves, ‘What’s the best version of Trinity Athletics?’ We know that a national championship is not out of reach because we have done it. Athletics is not a silo, it’s a big part of the Trinity College community. A priority of mine is tackling the concept of how athletics can both contribute to and fit into Trinity College. Regarding excitement, I am looking forward to getting to know the Trinity community and working with them. I am excited to harness the existing passion that Trinity has.”

On the topic of leadership style, he stressed fairness, optimism and accountability, while also highlighting the importance of personal connections: “My leadership style combines being fair, optimistic, realistic, data-driven and leading by example. It’s important to share with the community the ‘why’ behind what we do, which requires strong one-on-one relationships. The goal is a balance of empathy, ambition and accountability. I want to foster an environment where people want to be here and do their best. If one of those elements is missing, the rest can crumble. I care about getting to know student-athletes quickly. These three traits apply to any individual, team or group. Coaches and peers see student-athletes every day, so I ask myself how I can shape them to help athletes get where they want to be.”

As a former Division III student-athlete, Viano reflected on how that experience shapes his philosophy: “If you choose to play a Division III sport, it has to come from the enjoyment you get from it. Any athlete could quit and there’s no penalty. Students wouldn’t participate if it wasn’t a big part of who they are. They enjoy working hard while knowing success isn’t guaranteed. What you learn from being on a Division III team stays with you, like setting goals, working in complex situations and gaining skills you’ll use years later. Whether you win or play a lot, the rewards are great because you’re learning things that can’t be taught elsewhere. For me, it’s about the people you meet, the skills you gain and the journey itself. The reward lasts a lifetime.”

Reflecting on his past work at Wheaton, Davidson and Dartmouth, he added, “Being at Dartmouth was completely different from Trinity. I had to get creative within the Ivy League to become a champion. Dartmouth’s secret weapon was their strong spirit and cohesion. A similarity between Trinity and Dartmouth is the feeling that people care at a higher level than their peer schools. Drew Galbraith worked with me at Dartmouth and can vouch for that. Davidson is Division I, but is actually a smaller community than Trinity. At Davidson, a central value was learning to be the best version of yourself rather than a second-best version of someone else. My past experiences make me ask, ‘How does Trinity be the best Trinity?’ I believe embracing and striving for the best version of Trinity is all we need; we have to live it with excitement, not just talk about it. An important question I’m raising is, ‘How do we separate Trinity from other schools?’ At Wheaton, I returned to my Division III roots. It was my first time as an athletic director at a small liberal arts college in a competitive league, and it prepared me well for Trinity. Wheaton allowed me to bring together my past experiences at Davidson and Dartmouth and guided me toward a Division III setting. I still have a lot to learn about Trinity, but my past experience will be very helpful moving forward.”

Looking ahead, he defined success not just in wins and losses, but in building community and preparing student-athletes for life beyond Trinity: “We will amplify the great work that’s been done over the past twenty years here,” he concluded. “I want to continue that success. Whatever changes come with the NCAA landscape, Trinity and the NESCAC will navigate them in a way that keeps the school at the forefront of Division III. We’ll graduate incredible Bantams to be leaders in the world. Sports are about building community, and nothing strengthens that more than winning. Five years from now, I hope we’ve achieved a lot, because winning brings pride and joy to everyone connected to our program. While the lessons learned in preparation are what matter most, it’s always more rewarding to learn them through winning, because success brings pride to the whole Bantam community.”