Alumni

Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78 was a pioneer in more ways than one during her time as a Bobcat. After playing in high school, Fiddler joined the Bates field hockey team as a first-year student in 1974. Then that spring, she led the charge to start the women’s lacrosse program at Bates. As a sophomore, she joined a young Bates women’s Nordic skiing program despite having no experience with the sport. But she immediately started winning every race, eventually becoming Bates’ first female All-American in 1978. Before she was done at Bates, Ingersoll Fiddler led the way in starting a women’s cross country club, which earned varsity status soon after. Ten years after she graduated, Ingersoll-Fiddler qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Nordic skiing. She followed that up by qualifying again in 1992. A 14-time U.S. national champion, Ingersoll-Fiddler was one of the top 20 Nordic skiers in the world for many years. Her daughter, Laurel Fiddler, also competed for the Bates Nordic team, graduating in 2017. Ingersoll Fiddler told her Olympic story as a co-author of the book Trail to Gold: The Journey of 53 Women Skiers, published in 2021.

Carolyn Campbell-McGovern ’83 co-captained the Bates field hockey team and was a captain, and the college’s first All-American, in women’s lacrosse. A longtime administrator with the Ivy League office, she has helped to shape American collegiate athletics while safeguarding the ethical principles shared by Bates and NESCAC. She joined the Ivy League in 1993, serving 16 years as senior associate executive director before becoming deputy executive director in 2009. Her duties have included working with representatives from each institution on issues involving all aspects of the athletics programs, including admissions, financial aid, eligibility, student health and safety, recruiting, officiating and scheduling. In 2018, she co-authored a study indicating that the league’s new football rules — moving kickoffs five yards up and eliminating tackling during practices — significantly reduced concussions. She oversees the Ivy League’s NCAA compliance program, working closely with all eight athletics departments to ensure Ivy institutions understand and follow NCAA and Ivy League rules.

Katie Burke ’03 captained the Bates volleyball team and was a defensive specialist for the Bobcats. She is the Chief People Officer at HubSpot. During her time leading people initiatives at HubSpot, the company has been named the #1 Best Place to Work by Glassdoor, the #1 Best Place to Work for Women by Comparably, and a Best Place to Work for Parents by Fortune. Burke was the Bates College Key’s 2019 Distinguished Alumna in Residence and the Stangle Award Winner for Distinguished Service. Before joining HubSpot, Burke was the Director of Marketing and Corporate Partnerships at Athletes’ Performance (EXOS) and a Director at the Glover Park Group. She holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and serves on the board of Paycor, and as an advisor to Biospring Partners and 826 Boston. Burke’s 2015 essay on how encouraging girls to play sports can change their lives and the world can be found on her website.

A Mainer, Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan ’10 was voted 2010 Bates Female Athlete of the Year and the Lewiston-Auburn Chamber of Commerce President’s Award Recipient after a collegiate career as a three-time NESCAC Champion in shot put and a six-time NCAA All-American. As a senior, she founded the Bates Throwing Clinic, inviting rural middle and high schoolers across Maine to be coached by nationally ranked Maine athletes. A politics major with minors in Chinese and Music she was acknowledged for her talent on and off the field as an NCAA Woman of the Year finalist in 2010. Duncan earned an M.P.A. and M.A.I.R. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse. She has worked for the world’s largest NGOs including the United Nations and American Red Cross. Duncan currently manages the Vetro Cares program, at Vetro Fibermap, helping rural communities bring broadband internet to their towns through GIS mapping software.  “One of the main things that has stuck with me through all my education is making sure I’m not only a participant in society, but I am also helping those around me find the right resources to help them out,” Duncan told Maine Women Magazine in 2013. “In my view, if those who are in poverty or are lower class are struggling, we are all, as a community, struggling.”

Amelia Wilhelm ’18 was named one of nine finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award in 2018. She helped Bates win three NCAA Rowing Championships in four years, before graduating with honors in chemistry. A four-year dean’s list student, Wilhelm was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the scientific research society Sigma Xi, and Bates’ College Key at graduation. She received the Mary Brushwein Award from the Bates chemistry department and the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Award, and was named to the NESCAC All-Academic Team three times. Wilhelm served as a student manager for the Academic Resource Commons at Bates, overseeing peer tutors and developing workshops for supplemental learning for students. She also assisted the Residence Life staff, working as a Junior Advisor and Residence Coordinator, and was a fellow for the Bates Career Development Center. She is currently enrolled at the University of Washington in the Medical Scientist Training Program, pursuing an MD and a PhD.

Moderator Amanda Kaufman ’22, having concluded her senior thesis in gender and sexuality studies, is currently working on her psychology senior thesis in collaboration with the Maine Sports Commission, looking at the lifelong benefit of sport in the lives of Mainers with a focus on girls and women. Amanda also works part-time as a research and education intern at the Women’s Sports Foundation. She has been involved with the WSF’s trailblazing work for women and girls in sport since September 2020. Amanda is also a captain of the Bates track and field team where she competes as a sprinter and hurdler. After Bates, Amanda hopes to go to graduate school for sports psychology and continue working on making sport accessible and equitable for all.