The U.Va. Women’s Center is pleased to announce the selection of Jane Miller as the recipient of the 2014 Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award. Miller is the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Programs at U.Va. and has worked in the Athletics Department for almost 30 years. She is a passionate advocate for women in sports and a role model for all women.
The award is presented annually by the Women’s Center in memory of Elizabeth Zintl, an accomplished writer and journalist, who served as Chief of Staff in the Office of the President at the University. Given to a woman employee at U.Va., the award honors the high degree of professionalism, creativity and commitment that characterized Zintl’s significant contributions to the University.
Miller has been integral in leading significant changes for women in sports because of her “steadfast commitment, vision of what can be and attention to day to day relationships and details,” said Patricia M. Lampkin, Vice President and Chief of Student Affairs Officer. “[Miller] is a calm, steady leader who day in and day out gets the job done. She is a strong role model for our current coaches and players and gives her heart and mind to the University every day.”
After 12 seasons as the U.Va. women’s lacrosse head coach, she retired from coaching with the most wins in the team’s history with a record of 145-44. This included two national championships and six trips to the Final Four. Inducted into state, regional and national Lacrosse Hall of Fames, as well as recognized in 1991 as the NCAA Division 1 National Coach of the Year, Miller has certainly left her mark on the sport and on the athletics program as a whole.
“We have been, and continue to be, so lucky to have [Miller] working tirelessly for and with the coaches and student athletes at Virginia and for her knowledge and work in the entire University community,” said Peggy Boutilier Williams (Clas and Curry ’99), a former field hockey and lacrosse student athlete.
In Curry School Professor Emeritus James M. Cooper’s nomination letter, he describes how Miller “sees herself as a Citizen of the University, not just the Athletics Department,” evidenced by her participation in several committees and councils, including the Women’s Center Advisory Council and the pan-university Women’s Leadership Council. Garnering the Woman of Achievement Award from the U.Va. Women’s Faculty and Professional Association in 1999 and the President’s Award for Exemplary Service to the ACC in 2009, Miller continues to lead with “an enormous professional commitment to getting the job done with the goal of creating win-win situations for everyone involved and of ensuring the task is executed with respect for everyone involved,” according to Carolyn M. Callahan, Commonwealth Professor of Education at Curry.
The U.Va. Women’s Center’s Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award uses a pan-university nomination and selection process. The award is made possible through the generosity of the late David A. Harrison III, a friend of Zintl and a great benefactor to the University of Virginia. The 2014 Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award selection committee is comprised of faculty and staff from across the University.
The Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award carries a $1,000 prize for the honoree to use for her professional or personal development and will be presented at a celebratory recognition ceremony set for Sept. 18, 2014.
*Please note: All quotes are from nomination letters.
By Agnes Filipowski
Photo of Ms. Miller by Matt Riley;
background image from wallpaper
page on www.virginiasports.com
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