Boat Christening honoring Dr. Donna A. Lopiano

This morning Amy & I attended a very special event. The Christening of the Varsity Eight shell "Donna A. Lopiano" to honor Dr. Donna Lopiano for her many contributions to women in athletics. We were joined by Donna and her very famous friends at The University of Texas Rowing Center on Town Lake. Those famous folks were: Dr. Jody Conradt, Dr. Waneen Spirduso, Dr. Dot Lovett, Admiral Bobby Inman & Carolyn Inman. University of Texas Rowing Coach, Carie Graves spoke first. Coach Graves, 3-time Olympian and Harvard grad.
 
Dr. Donna Lopiano's Bio: Dr. Donna Lopiano is a member of the National Sports Hall of Fame and the National Softball Hall of Fame. For 17 years (1975-1992) she served as director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women at the University of Texas, during which time she constructed what many believe to be the premiere women's athletics program in the country. Dr. Lopiano developed her department from a $57,000 budget in 1975 to nearly $3 million in 1987, while all eight sports she supervised continued to hold national rankings.

The University of Texas enjoyed perhaps its best overall season in 1986-1987 when it was named top women's program in the country for the second consecutive year by Knoxville Journal's all-sports poll. All totaled, Dr. Lopiano's department boasted 12 national championships in five different sports, 30 Southwest Conference championships since 1982 and 159 All-American athletes - dozens among them Olympians and world champions.

Dr. Lopiano's success extended to the classroom. From 1975 until her departure, 95 percent of UT women athletes who completed four years of athletic eligibility received a baccalaureate degree.

An outstanding college athlete and a former All-American athlete, Dr. Lopiano attended Southern Connecticut State University and played basketball, softball, volleyball and field hockey and graduated in 1968. She received her master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California.