GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 14, 2021) – Women Leaders in College Sports announced its 2021 award recipients, and Denison University's Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics, Nan Carney-DeBord, has been named the NCAA Division III Nike Executive of the Year.

The Executive of the Year Award, formerly known as the Administrator of the Year Award, is presented to Women Leaders in College Sports members for significant contributions made as a senior-level administrator of intercollegiate athletics. This award recognizes administrative excellence in each division [NCAA Division I, FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA/NJCAA/Community College and Conference/Organization].

Now in her 11th year, Carney-DeBord has made an impact on the campus community with her brand of competitive excellence. She returned to her alma mater in 2011 as the Director of Athletics and faculty chair of the Health, Exercise and Sport Studies major and was promoted to Associate Vice President in 2016.

Under Carney-DeBord's watch, athletics teams at Denison have consistently performed at the conference and national levels. In 2018, Denison was one of only 10 colleges nationally — and the only college in the Midwest — to be recognized in the top 50 of both the U.S. News and World Report National Liberal Arts rankings and the Learfield Director's Cup D-III standings. Under her direction, Denison has won the North Coast Athletic Conference All-Sports Championship five times in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019. Since her arrival in the fall of 2011, Denison has won four NCAA Division III national championships and the college has completed its $38 million renovations and expansion to the Mitchell Center.

In 2019, Carney-DeBord was named the Under Armour Division III Athletics Director of the Year by the National Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and was honored at the organization's annual convention in Orlando, Florida. 

In addition to her role as Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics, Carney-DeBord is the Division Director for the Health, Exercise and Sport Studies (HESS) major at Denison, for which she provides vision and leadership. In the HESS major, students frame the sciences of health, exercise, and sports within the liberal arts, providing a larger context to understand the whole person. Carney-DeBord's vision has led HESS into one of the fastest growing majors on campus.

The athletic department has also grown considerably under Carney-DeBord, with assistant coaching positions and full-time faculty coaching positions added to numerous sports since 2011. Carney-DeBord ushered in the creation of the James T. Glerum Top-50 Honors Celebration in 2012 and since that time Denison has recognized the top-50 student-athletes in terms of grade point average along with a faculty member of their choosing. The Big Red have also added new sports such as women's fencing and men's and women's squash in recent years.

Carney-DeBord was a four-year letter winner in basketball and field hockey at Denison. A wing and point guard in basketball, she was a team captain and was named the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior. As a back on the Denison field hockey squad, she was a three-year captain and helped lead the 1979 team to a 12-3-1 record. In 1998, she was inducted in the Varsity D Association Athletics Hall of Fame at Denison. In addition to her bachelor's degree in physical education from Denison, Carney-DeBord earned a Master of Arts in athletics administration from Kent State University.

Founded in 1979, Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) is the only nationally recognized collegiate professional membership organization whose mission is to develop, connect and advance women leaders working in intercollegiate athletics. More than 3,800 members strong, Women Leaders promotes the growth, leadership and success of women as athletics administrators, conference commissioners, professional staff, coaches and student-athletes.

Carney-DeBord and the rest of the Women Leaders in College Sports award recipients for 2021 will be recognized through Women Leaders' Nike Celebration of Women social media campaign starting on September 13. They also will be honored during the Nike Celebration of Women session on Sunday, October 10 (5:05-5:40 pm CT), during WOMEN LEADERS X, the organization's second virtual national convention. Each award winner was nominated by their peers and selected by the Women Leaders Awards Committee for their service during 2020-2021.

Official Release