July 8, 2013
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa women’s athletic director Dr. Christine H.B. Grant has been selected to the NFHCA Hall of Fame, the NFHCA Office announced Monday. Grant joins Virginia head coach Michele Madison, a former Iowa assistant (1982-89), and Ursinus College head coach Laura Moliken in the Class of 2013.
The NFHCA will be welcoming the Class of 2013 into the NFHCA Hall of Fame during the 2013 NFHCA Annual Convention. The 2013 NFHCA Annual Convention will be held, Nov. 20-22, in Virginia Beach, Va.
A pioneer in intercollegiate athletics in the United States, Grant became the first women’s athletics director at the University of Iowa in 1973. In her 27 years at the helm of a separate Women’s Athletic Department, Grant helped coaches develop highly competitive teams at the national level and at the conference level where they won 27 Big Ten Conference titles. A native of Scotland, Grant has earned national acclaim for her dedication to gender equity in athletics. She has testified on Title IX and Gender Equity before several U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittees and has served as an expert witness in many Title IX lawsuits. She served as President of both the AIAW and the NACWAA.
She was given an Honorary Doctorate of Humane letters by Luther College and also by the University of Northern Iowa and named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America by the Institute of International Sport.
In 2006, she was inducted into the State of Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame and two years later was inducted into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics’ Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Grant received the NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award, which honors an individual who has provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis over the course of their career.
Grant was also awarded the Billie Jean King Contribution Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation and the NCAA Honda Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Women’s Collegiate Athletics. Additionally, she has been named the National Administrator of the year by the NACWAA and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
In June, 2012 the ballroom in the new NCAA building addition in Indianapolis was named in Grant’s honor.
Grant received a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a doctoral degree in athletic administration from the University of Iowa, where, until 2006, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Sports Studies teaching and advising graduate students majoring in athletic administration.
Iowa’s home facility — Grant Field — is named in honor of Grant, the founder of Iowa field hockey.