University of Tennessee Athletics
AD Emeritus Cronan Honored by Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame
May 20, 2021 | General
Longtime administrator to receive David Williams Significant Historical Achievement Award
The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday announced that UT Director of Women's Athletics Emeritus Joan Cronan has been selected as the 2021 recipient of the David Williams Significant Historical Achievement Award.
Cronan will receive the award during the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame's televised induction special on Saturday, June 26. Broadcast details and East Tennessee channel designations are forthcoming.
Taking over as women's athletics director at Tennessee in 1983, she gradually expanded the program from seven to 11 sports and helped increase annual giving to support women's athletics from $75,000 to more than $2 million per year. During her 29-year tenure (1983-2012), UT won 10 NCAA Championships, 22 SEC regular-season titles and 33 league tournament trophies, finishing first or second in the SEC All-Sports Award race six times.
The success by Lady Vol teams during Cronan's tenure at Tennessee was matched by an expectation for excellence in the classroom and a philosophy of giving back to the community. A history-maker and member of several halls of fame, she holds the distinction of becoming the first female athletics director for UT's combined men's and women's athletics department when she served as Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics in 2011.
Cronan was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and also has served as a past president of the hall.
The David Williams Significant Historical Achievement Award is named in honor of the late David Williams II, who dramatically elevated the student-athlete experience at Vanderbilt University during his 18-year tenure there as vice chancellor. Williams received the award posthumously in 2019 following his passing earlier that year, and the award was then named in his honor.
Cronan will receive the award during the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame's televised induction special on Saturday, June 26. Broadcast details and East Tennessee channel designations are forthcoming.
Taking over as women's athletics director at Tennessee in 1983, she gradually expanded the program from seven to 11 sports and helped increase annual giving to support women's athletics from $75,000 to more than $2 million per year. During her 29-year tenure (1983-2012), UT won 10 NCAA Championships, 22 SEC regular-season titles and 33 league tournament trophies, finishing first or second in the SEC All-Sports Award race six times.
The success by Lady Vol teams during Cronan's tenure at Tennessee was matched by an expectation for excellence in the classroom and a philosophy of giving back to the community. A history-maker and member of several halls of fame, she holds the distinction of becoming the first female athletics director for UT's combined men's and women's athletics department when she served as Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics in 2011.
Cronan was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and also has served as a past president of the hall.
The David Williams Significant Historical Achievement Award is named in honor of the late David Williams II, who dramatically elevated the student-athlete experience at Vanderbilt University during his 18-year tenure there as vice chancellor. Williams received the award posthumously in 2019 following his passing earlier that year, and the award was then named in his honor.
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