Sandhya Manjunath

Sandhya Manjunath is an Assistant Professor at the Hart School of James Madison University (JMU), where she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor from 2022–2023. Previously, she held roles including Global Advisor for International Affairs at Texas Woman’s University (2021–2023), Founder of ATSIY (2016–2023), and Graduate Teaching Assistant (2019–2022). Her expertise spans sport for development, event management, and higher education in developing countries. She has conducted research on professionalism in sport industries and international sport exchange programs.

Education: Ph.D. in Sport Management (Texas Woman’s University, 2023), M.S. in Sport Management (Texas Woman’s University, 2020), M.Com (Jain University, India, 2015), and B.Com (St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, India, 2012).

Research focuses on leveraging sport as a tool for development, addressing challenges faced by female athletes in emerging markets, and fostering international educational collaborations. Her work emphasizes cross-cultural understanding and institutional capacity-building in sport management. Recent studies include analyses of athlete endorsement dynamics in Cameroon and India, and the impact of India-US sport exchange programs.

Professional experiences include roles at the Fort Worth Sports Commission (2019–2020) and Dallas Mavericks (2019), where she coordinated international groups and coached basketball. Her advisory and teaching roles reflect a commitment to globalizing sport education and gender equity.