UCLA Alumnae Named as Women's Sports Foundation 40 FOR 40 Honorees
May 19, 2012
The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF), in collaboration with espnW and Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), released its 40 FOR 40 list of forty women who made a significant impact on society after playing sports in high school or college during the forty years of the Title IX era. The list includes six Bruins - former student-athletes Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Dr. Dot Richardson, UCLA Law School graduates Val Ackerman and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, former UCLA student Michelle Kwan, and Plus Four More Honorary designee Sue Enquist, former UCLA Softball player and coach.
The 40 FOR 40 list is comprised of honorees in a wide range of fields of accomplishment including Science - Technology - Engineering - Math (STEM), Sports, Business, Medicine, Law, Arts and Entertainment, among other fields.
Joyner-Kersee, who competed on the UCLA track and field and basketball teams from 1981-85, is being honored for her sports accomplishments. A four-time Olympian, Joyner-Kersee won six Olympic medals, including three gold. She was named the Greatest Female athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated for Women in 2001 and the #1 Athlete of the Title IX Era by Sports Illustrated this month. At UCLA, she won two NCAA heptathlon titles, both with NCAA record marks, and she was a first-team all-conference performer in basketball in 1985 and still ranks in the school's Top 20 for career scoring and rebounding. Joyner-Kersee is also known for her efforts in giving underprivileged children more opportunities to safely participate in sports through the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation.
Richardson, an honoree in the field of medicine, played at UCLA from 1981-83 and was a member of the Bruins' 1982 NCAA Championship team. The three-time All-American was honored as the NCAA's Player of the Decade for the 1980's. A member of the USA National Team from 1979-2000, Richardson helped lead the U.S. to gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. Richardson, an orthopedic surgeon, is currently the Executive Director and Medical Director of The National Training Center and was a former Vice Chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Ackerman, who graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1985, launched the WNBA and served as the league's president from its inception in 1996 to 2005. The former University of Virginia basketball player was also the first female president of USA Basketball from 2005-08.
Gillibrand, a 1991 UCLA School of Law graduate, was honored for Government and Civil Service. The New York senator and two-term Congresswoman is an advocate for empowering women.
Kwan, who attended UCLA before finishing her studies at the University of Denver, is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. Kwan won five World Championships, nine U.S. Championships and two Olympic medals. Additionally, she was a sports ambassador for the Special Olympics, a member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and a public diplomacy ambassador for the U.S. State Department.
Enquist, a four-year softball letterwinner from 1975-78, helped lead UCLA to the 1978 AIAW National Championship during an All-American season in which she led the Bruins with a .391 batting average. She served as an assistant coach for the Bruins from 1980-89 and was elevated to co-head coach in 1989. Between 1997-2006, Enquist led UCLA to six NCAA Championships and won three National Coach of the Year honors. Enquist has done tremendous work in expanding the recognition and opportunities for the sport of softball.
The honorees will be recognized as part of a 40 FOR 40 event on June 21 at the JW Marriott in Washington, DC.
40 FOR 40 Honorees
Honoree; Professional category (can be multiple categories); Sport; Contribution
Names appear in alphabetical order.
Val Ackerman; Sports; Collegiate Basketball; First president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Cynthia Breazeal; STEM and Academia; High School Track, Swimming, Soccer and Tennis; Founder and Director of the Personal Robots Group at MIT Media Laboratory.
Christine Brennan; Journalism/Media; High School Tennis and Field Hockey; Award-winning print and broadcast journalist who is the most widely read female sports columnist in the nation.
Beth Brooke; Business; Collegiate Basketball; Global Vice Chair of Public Policy at Ernst & Young and named one of Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women (2007). Corporate gender diversity advocate.
Ann Cody; Nonprofit; Paralympic and Collegiate Wheelchair Track & Field; Director of Policy and Global Outreach for BlazeSports America. Member of the International Paralympic Committee's governing board.
Ellen DeGeneres; Arts and Entertainment; High School Tennis; Comedienne and talk show host. Just named as recipient of Mark Twain Prize.
Jean Driscoll; Sports; Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball and Paralympic Wheelchair Racing; Served as the national spokesperson for the ASPIRE project from 2001-2003, a national outreach program for the American Association of Adapted Sports Programs, whose goal is to provide sports opportunities for children with physical disabilities.
Nancy Dubuc; Media; Collegiate Crew; President of Lifetime Network and History Channel. Top ten in The Hollywood Reporter Most Powerful Women in Media.
General Ann E. Dunwoody; Military; Collegiate Tennis and Gymnastics; First female commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division and first female four-star general.
Lynn Laverty Elsenhans; Business and STEM; Collegiate Basketball; CEO, Sunoco, and named one of Forbes 50 Most Powerful Women (2011). Played on first intercollegiate basketball team at Rice while getting degree in mathematical science.
Tina Fey; Arts and Entertainment; High School Tennis; Award-winning writer, producer, actress, comedienne and bestselling author. One of four women and youngest person ever to win Mark Twain Prize.
Julie Foudy; Sports; Collegiate and Olympic Soccer; Advocate for women's and children's rights, including Title IX. Received the FIFA Fair Play Award for her trip abroad to examine the working conditions of Reebok's factories.
Irma Garcia; Sports and Academia; Collegiate Basketball; First and only Hispanic female to head a NCAA Division I athletic program.
Alice Gast; Academia and STEM; High School Track & Field; President, Lehigh University, following a career as an award-winning and internationally recognized researcher and teacher at Stanford University and vice president for research and associate provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jodi Gillette; Government and Civil Service; Collegiate Basketball; White House Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs.
Kirsten Gillibrand; Government and Civil Service; Collegiate Squash; United States Senator and two-term Congresswoman from New York. Advocate for empowering women.
Mia Hamm; Sports; Collegiate and Olympic Soccer; Played on four NCAA Championship teams, two World Cup Championship teams and two Olympic gold medal teams. Helped found first professional women's soccer league. Born the year Title IX was enacted, a true Title IX baby.
Flo Hyman; Sports; Collegiate Volleyball; "National Girls and Women in Sports Day" was posthumously established in recognition of her contributions to growing sports for girls and women.
Kristina Johnson; STEM, Academia, Business, and Government/Civil Service; Collegiate Lacrosse and Field Hockey; Holds 43 patents. CEO, Enduring Energy. Formerly, professor at University of Colorado, dean of the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and provost at Johns Hopkins University. Served as Under Secretary for Energy at U.S. Department of Energy.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee; Sports; Collegiate and Olympic Track & Field; Ranked among all-time greatest female athletes in the world. Known for her efforts in giving underprivileged children more opportunities to safely participate in sports.
Ellen Kullman; Business and STEM; Collegiate Basketball; Chair and CEO, Dupont, and ranked as Forbes fourth most powerful woman. Credited with leading the company's renewed focus on biotechnology.
Michelle Kwan; Sports; Olympic and World Champion Figure Skater; Sports ambassador for Special Olympics, member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and public diplomacy ambassador for U.S. State Department.
Queen Latifah; Arts and Entertainment; High School Basketball; Actress, singer, author, and production company owner.
Kathy Levinson; Business; Collegiate Basketball, Field Hockey and Tennis; Managing Director for Golden Seeds, a national network of angel investors dedicated to investing in early-stage companies founded and/or led by women.
Mary Bono Mack; Government and Civil Service; High School Gymnastics; Seven-term Congresswoman from California and avid advocate for sports and physical activity.
Sandra Magnus; STEM; Collegiate Soccer; Astronaut on crew of final Space Shuttle mission. Played all four years on first women's soccer team at college.
Linda Mastandrea; Law; Paralympic Track & Field; Attorney and leading advocate for persons with disabilities; member, legal committee for International Paralympic Committee.
Brigadier General Loretta Reynolds; Military; Collegiate Basketball; First female commander at Parris Island and one of only two active female generals in the Marines.
Dot Richardson; Medicine; Collegiate Softball; Executive Director and Medical Director of the National Training Center. Former Vice Chair of President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Condoleezza Rice; Government/Civil Service and Academia; Figure Skating; Former U.S. Secretary of State and Stanford University political science professor.
Susan Rice; Government and Civil Service; Three-sport High School Athlete; Current U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Sally Ride; STEM; High School and Collegiate Tennis; First female astronaut.
Robin Roberts; Journalism/Media; Collegiate Basketball; Renowned broadcast journalist and anchor of ABC's Good Morning America and ESPN's "In the Game with Robin Roberts."
Irene Rosenfeld; Business; Collegiate Basketball; CEO of Kraft Foods.
Mary Shapiro; Government/Civil Service and Law; Collegiate Lacrosse and Field Hockey; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair.
Rear Admiral Sandra Stosz; Academia and Military; Collegiate Sailing; First female leader of a US military academy.
Pat Summitt; Sports; Collegiate Basketball; Played basketball during the enaction of Title IX. Her success as all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history with Tennessee basketball team expanded recognition and opportunities for women in basketball.
Jill Vialet; Nonprofit; Collegiate Rugby; Social entrepreneur recognized as part of Forbes Impact 30 list for Playworks, an organization devoted to improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.
Meg Whitman; Business; Collegiate Lacrosse and Squash; CEO of Hewlett Packard and former CEO of eBay.
Venus Williams; Sports; Tennis; Three-time Olympic medalist and seven-time Grand Slam tennis champion who helped lead a successful effort to gain equal prize money for women at Wimbledon.
Plus Four More Honorary designees include:
Sue Enquist; Sports; Collegiate Softball; Former UCLA Women's Head Coach and espnW Advisory Board. Greatly expanded recognition and opportunities for the sport of softball.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar; Law; Collegiate and Olympic Swimmer; Senior Director of Advocacy for the Women's Sports Foundation. Leading Title IX expert and advocate.
Cindy McConkey; Media; All State High School Basketball and Track & Field; Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Scripps Networks Interactive. First female reporter to cover Southeastern Conference football.
Kathy Payne; Media; High School Tennis champion and team captain; 2012 Chair of the WICT Board and Vice President, Content Acquisition with Cox Communications. Currently negotiates complex carriage deals with all professional sports leagues, regional sports networks and college conferences for cable television and mobile platform distribution.