Elaine Russell joined the Western Michigan University athletic department in July, 2008, as the director of sports marketing. She is responsible for all marketing and promotion of the Broncos' 16 athletic programs.

Russell has experience in the Mid-American Conference after serving in marketing office at Northern Illinois as a graduate assistant from 2006-07 and most recently as the assistant director of marketing in 2007. She was involved in all aspects of marketing for all 16 NIU athletic programs, working primarily with women's basketball, volleyball and baseball.

Prior to her time in DeKalb, Ill., Russell was an assistant women's basketball coach at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind., from 1998-2005. While at SJC, she also served as the intramural director and as an instructor in the physical education department (psychology of coaching).

Russell earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in human movement science in 1998 from Transylvania University, minoring in psychology. She was a four-year letterwinner in both field hockey and basketball and was named TU's Female Athlete of the Year in 1998, and was inducted into the Pioneer Athletic Hall of Fame in May of 2011. She earned her masters in sports management from Northern Illinois in May, 2007.