Susan Bassett

February 12, 2003

GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith Director of Athletics Susan Bassett will receive the Jean Giambrone Service Award at the WHAM Sportswomen of the Year Awards Luncheon at the Clarion Riverside Hotel in Rochester, on April 26. She is the first collegiate administrator to win the award in its 23-year history.

Bassett, director of athletics since 1995 and past chair of the NCAA Division III Management council, is being recognized for her three decades of service to intercollegiate athletics as a swimming coach and an administrator.

During her tenure as director of athletics, she has added three varsity programs, has overseen the renovation of Winn-Seeley Gymnasium, and has played a key role in the overall upgrade of the Colleges’ athletics facilities.

A national powerhouse before her arrival, William Smith has continued its championship tradition during the Bassett era, winning two national championships and three ECAC titles, as well as dozens of conference championships under her direction.

A member of the NCAA Management Council from 1999 through 2004, she served her final year on the Council as chair, overseeing the development and passage of the wide sweeping reform packages that were adopted during the 2004 NCAA Convention in January.

Bassett enjoyed an extraordinary coaching career before moving into the director’s chair. In 15 seasons as head coach at William Smith and Union colleges, she coached 114 All-Americans, including three national champions, and was named the 1993 NCAA Division III Women’s Coach of the Year.

A 1979 graduate of Ithaca College, she received a master’s degree in physical education from Indiana University in 1980.

Now in its 26th year, the WHAM Sportswomen of the Year Awards Luncheon recognizes outstanding achievements in women’s athletics in the Rochester area. The featured speaker at this year’s luncheon, which begins at noon, is legendary University of Tennessee Women’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Summitt. Tickets are $50 and proceeds benefit the Heart of Gold Children’s Foundation. To order tickets, call (585) 234-2055.

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