Jess Rooney Gallagher enters her 17th year at MIT in 2023-24 and her second as senior associate head athletic trainer as she was promoted in July 2022. She primarily coordinates and oversees the medical care for the Engineers’ women’s volleyball, men’s lacrosse, sailing, rifle, men’s fencing, women’s fencing, and track and field teams.
Rooney Gallagher joined the MIT staff after spending four years as the head athletic trainer for Campus Recreation at the University of New Hampshire. During her tenure, she coordinated care for 26 club sports including men’s and women's rugby, wrestling, men’s lacrosse, men’s ice hockey, cycling, and woodsmen.
In addition to her athletic training and administrative responsibilities, Rooney Gallagher serves as a preceptor for Endicott College’s Athletic Training Education Program, where she is responsible for supervising and mentoring athletic training students. She is also starting her seventh year as an adjunct professor at Lasell University for the Athletic Training and Exercise Science Programs.
Rooney Gallagher graduated from Northeastern University in 2001 with a B.S in athletic training. She continued her academic career with an E.d.M. in sports psychology from Boston University in 2003. While at BU, Rooney Gallagher was a graduate assistant athletic trainer for Club Sports, providing care to the women’s rugby, women’s ice hockey, gymnastics, and men’s lacrosse teams.
Rooney Gallagher is a licensed athletic trainer in Massachusetts and an active member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association (EATA), and the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts (ATOM). She has served on several professional committees including the NATA Honors and Award as District 1 Representative and the ATOM Executive Board as Membership Representative.
Jess and her husband, Brian, live in Natick, Mass. with their cat, Mando.
