Yow Receives Contract Extension
1/23/2007 7:00:00 AM | Terrapin Athletics
Jan. 23, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland President Dr. C.D. Mote announced today that director of athletics Deborah A. Yow has signed a contract extension that will extend her time with the university through August 2013.
Yow is currently in her 13th year directing the Terrapins' intercollegiate athletics program. In her previous 12 seasons, Maryland has achieved at high levels in all aspects of the program, including positive results on and off the field.
Of the 40 national team championships won in the institution's history, more than one-third (14) have come during her time at Maryland. That figure includes the unprecedented four national titles won by Terrapin programs during the 2005-06 academic year.
"I am honored to be the athletics director at Maryland and deeply appreciate the extension of my contract by our president," said Yow. "Our future is bright and we are in hot pursuit of enhanced greatness on the national stage for all our sports. There is much to achieve and my full focus rests on those goals."
The Terrapins' success in a number of areas has brought prestige to the university and the athletics department recently. Maryland was honored with the inaugural PRISM Award in 2005-06, given by the University of Massachusetts Sport Management department for excellence and innovation in athletics management. In the same academic year, the university also achieved the highest student-athlete graduation rate in the history of Maryland athletics at 70 percent.
"Our new contract with Debbie Yow recognizes her extraordinary achievements in building a truly outstanding intercollegiate athletics program over the past thirteen years," said Mote. "The student-athletes achieve on the field and in the classroom, and the program integrity and fiscal management meet the highest standards. Debbie has represented the University of Maryland with distinction across the nation. She is one of a kind; we are lucky to have her here."
Yow recently was inducted into the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame, as well as the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Previously, Yow has served as president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, an organization of more than 6,100 members representing 1,600 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada.
During her previous 12-1/2 years at Maryland, the university athletics department has been fiscally responsible, balancing all 12 budgets after the department operated at a deficit in each of the 10 years previous to her arrival. In addition, the athletics department has completed significant renovation and additions to athletics facilities, including the building of Comcast Center, the renovation of the Gossett Football Team House, the upcoming renovation of Byrd Stadium and the construction of a complex for field hockey and women's lacrosse.
Yow has received a number of honors on the regional and national stage for her success at Maryland. In 2003, she was inducted to the State of Maryland Women's Hall of Fame and was listed recently as one of 15 women faculty and staff members who have made a significant contribution to the history of the university. She was named a member of the "Dream Team" of professional and collegiate sports administrators for her organizational leadership skills by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal.
A former basketball coach, she began her coaching career at the high-school level in North Carolina before becoming head coach at the University of Kentucky in 1976 and averaged 20 wins per year for eight years as a head coach at three Division I institutions, with each institution making its first-ever appearance in the national Top 20 women's basketball poll under her leadership.
