Dr. M. Grace Calhoun

Position: Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics

Appointed on February 9, 2011, M. Grace Calhoun, Ph.D., is currently serving as Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics at Loyola University Chicago. She is responsible for managing a comprehensive Division I athletics program comprised of over 50 coaches and staff members and competing in 15 sports.

Since joining Loyola, Calhoun has worked tirelessly to rebuild the Rambler programs to their past stature, exemplified by conference championships and dozens of NCAA appearances, including the prized 1963 National Basketball Championship. To this end, Calhoun has made coaching changes in men's basketball, women's soccer, and men's and women's cross-country/track and field, has restructured the department, and has added key staff positions to support the program's internal and external operations. In addition, Calhoun transitioned the Department into the state-of-the-art Norville Center for Intercollegiate Athletics, and will open the completely modernized Gentile Arena on November 26, 2011. Calhoun has grown the Ramblers corporate sponsorship and annual fundraising programs, has expanded the Department's life skills and compliance programs, and has formed a multitude of University partnerships to enable varsity student-athletes to benefit from the latest research in athletics performance. A staunch believer in the important role of intercollegiate athletics in the holistic development of students, Calhoun has further aligned the Department's operations with the University's mission of providing transformative educational experiences to Loyola students.

Prior to joining the Ramblers, Calhoun served as the Associate Athletics Director for Academic and Student Engagement at Indiana University for six years, also serving as the Senior Woman Administrator for three of those years. In this role, Calhoun oversaw all academic and student development initiatives and headed up Indiana's Excellence Academy, an innovative student-development program, which integrates athletics and university resources to define, measure, and assess student learning. Additionally, she directed compliance and eligibility, managed conference and NCAA governance for the university, oversaw the student-athlete admissions process and athletics scholarship budget, directed major projects and strategic initiatives, and served as a sport administrator.

Also a prominent figure on the national scene, Calhoun has chaired the NCAA's Awards, Benefits, Expenses and Financial Aid cabinet, one of eight primary governance bodies for Division I. Calhoun successfully guided a two-year national student-athlete welfare initiative, concluding with the adoption of a financial aid reform package by the NCAA membership. She also chaired the NCAA Research Committee, and has also been active in national academic and compliance reform initiatives. Calhoun served on numerous NCAA and Big Ten committees and in 2009 was presented with the NACWAA Nell Jackson Administrator of the Year Award.

Calhoun honed her craft at Dartmouth College where she served as the Associate Director of Athletics for Administration and Compliance/Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics from 2002-05. Her responsibilities there included managing NCAA and Ivy League eligibility and rules compliance programs, managing NCAA Certification and major departmental projects, and building partnerships within the campus, among other duties. Prior to her appointment at Dartmouth, Calhoun was the Associate Executive Director of the Patriot League, coordinating governance work for the conference, managing coaches' groups, directing championships and overseeing compliance and student-services programs. From 1997- 98, she held the position of Assistant Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

Calhoun is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, where she earned a degree in electrical engineering and was a member of the track and field team. She received both a master's degree in exercise and sport sciences and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Florida, where she got her start in athletics administration from 1993-97. She also holds a MBA from Lehigh University.

Calhoun and her husband Jason, a PGA golf professional, have three children - Alexandra, Madeline and Eleanor.