Christine Grant – CRCA Hall of Fame Class of 2011
Christine Grant became the first women’s athletic director at Iowa in 1973, a post she held until her retirement in 2000. Under her direction, Iowa’s athletics department grew to include 12 NCAA championship sports that won a combined 27 Big Ten Conference titles. Throughout her career, Grant was honored by NACWAA, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, the Women’s Sports Foundation and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. Grant also served as associate professor within the Department of Physical Education for Women (1973-2006).
Christine Grant was instrumental in getting women’s rowing to become an NCAA sport with the inaugural championship being held in 1997 in Sacramento, CA. Grant was on the NCAA Rowing Championship committee who worked on the design and format of the championship.
Grant is best known for her fight for gender equity in athletics. She testified before Congress several times and served as a consultant for the Civil Rights Title IX Task Force. She was a founding member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and served in a variety of leadership roles with that organization. She also has held several positions with the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), including the presidency from 1987-89. Grant has spoken and published widely and has held numerous leadership positions as an advocate of gender equity in sports. She served as the president of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1980 to 1981. She received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Billie Jean King Award presented by the Women’s Sports Foundation, two honorary doctorates, and induction into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame and the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame.