East Texas A&M University Athletics

Athletic Director • 1988-99

Dr. Margaret "Margo" Harbison served as the Lion Athletic Director beginning in 1988 and concluding in 1999. She was also the head of the Health and Physical Education Department at ETSU and helped the university transition from East Texas State to Texas A&M-Commerce. She was only the 11th woman in the nation to direct athletics at the NCAA Division II level.

She was involved in the oversight of renovation projects at the Field House and many other successful Lions program enhancements. One of the key renovations to the Field House that Harbison oversaw was in 1991, when new bleachers, scoreboards and heating and ventilation were installed and the one acre of maple hardwood floors underwent reparations.

Harbison came to Commerce in 1974 as coordinator of women's athletics and had been associate athletic director from 1985-1988 when she was promoted to head athletic director. Over the course of her tenure, she was part of the Division II Restructuring Committee, the Division II Management Council and was a past chair of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee. She also served a four-year term on the Executive Board on the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. 

She earned both her bachelor's and master's degree from Appalachian State University and was awarded her doctorate of education in 1973 from the University of Mississippi.