Bio

Austin Byrnes began his role as assistant director of communications at Simpson College in August 2024. 

Byrnes comes to Simpson after spending nearly 10 years in collegiate athletics, with his last role as assistant athletic director of communications at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Wash. from 2017-22. He oversaw the department's 15 sports, including men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's cross country and track and field, men's and women's golf, men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball. Byrnes began his career at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. from 2013-16, before working for College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho from 2016-17. 

Originally from Olympia, Wash., Byrnes moved with his fiance from Washington to Des Moines in the summer of 2023. He graduated from Carroll College in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in sports management.