Vassar College Athletics

Director of Sports Medicine Suzi Higgins

Susan L. Higgins began her tenure as the Head Athletic Trainer at Vassar College in 2013.  A native of Loveland, Colorado, Higgins and her staff will be responsible for all aspects of the student athletes’ health care; including prevention, evaluations  management, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries.   She will also head initiatives related to health education and counseling of student-athletes.
 
Higgins brings more than 30 years of athletic training experience to Brewers’ athletics. Her diverse career ranges from the high school level to all NCAA Divisions, and also includes experience in the industrial setting.
 
Higgins’ previous positions include: Head Athletic Trainer and Physical Education instructor at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio from 2007-2010; and Associate Athletic Trainer at the University of San Diego from 1994-2007.
 
Suzi brings years of proven experience to Vassar College.  As an athletic trainer, she has made a difference at each setting and institution she has worked at.  In her first position as a Head Athletic Trainer (at CWRU), she transformed a sports medicine program into one that can serve as a model for NCAA Division III Institutions.
 
Higgins earned a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with an athletic training emphasis from University of Northern Colorado in 1991, and a master’s degree in physical education and sports medicine from Minnesota State University at Mankato in 1998.
 
Higgins has been a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association since 1992, and was the 2005 recipient of the College/University Athletic Trainers’ Committee’s NCAA Division I-AA Assistant Athletic Trainer of the Year. She is an American Red Cross Instructor for CPR/AED and first-Aid. 

Higgins currently serves as a Division III- District 2 representative on  the NATA's Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine.

Higgins is married to Robert K. Lanier, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, and they reside in Beacon, NY.