M. Dianne Murphy Distinguished Lecture to feature its namesake

Athletics administrator and Florida State University alumna M. Dianne Murphy will return to her alma mater this week to give a presentation at the annual lecture series she has helped make possible.

As director of intercollegiate athletics and physical education at Columbia University in New York, Murphy has taken the university’s athletic program to new heights. The football team and men’s and women’s basketball teams all have made significant improvements, and Columbia’s sports teams have won a total of 11 Ivy League titles over the past three years — a record span in the school’s history. Murphy is well known in the sport management industry for her passion and commitment to achieving excellence in intercollegiate athletics.

The M. Dianne Murphy Distinguished Lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place:

THURSDAY, APRIL 1

5:30 – 7:30 P.M.

1101 MOORE ATHLETIC CENTER

UNIVERSITY CENTER D, 403 STADIUM DRIVE

THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Murphy received her doctorate in administration and curriculum at Florida State in 1980 and was celebrated as a Grad Made Good in 2005. She is active in several national organizations, including the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, the National Association of College Directors of Athletics and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Murphy served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators from 2002 to 2003 and was named the association’s Division I National Administrator of the Year in 2008. She also has received honors from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the All-American Football Foundation.

The M. Dianne Murphy Lecture Series makes it possible for the Sport Management faculty in Florida State’s College of Education to bring speakers to campus to interact with students, faculty, administrators and community members on the role of minority and women administrators in college and university athletics and recreation programs. The establishment of the lecture series was made possible by a gift to the College of Education by Murphy.