First Full-Time Female Athletics Senior Administrator Louise O’Neal Passes Away
10/12/2022 4:55:00 PM | Athletics
A passionate advocate for women’s rights, O’Neal was on staff for 11 years and served as interim AD in 1989
HANOVER, N.H. — Louise O'Neal, who was the first female to serve solely as a top-level athletics administrator at Dartmouth College and the interim director of athletics and recreation for several months in 1989, passed away last month at the age of 83 following a long illness.
Hired by AD Seaver Peters as the assistant athletics director in 1979 when Aggie Kurtz stepped down to focus her attention on coaching the women's squash and lacrosse teams, O'Neal supervised all aspects of the 15 women's sports that Dartmouth offered as well as the administration of enrollment activities and facilities for both the men's and women's programs.
O'Neal was promoted to associate athletics director in 1983 after Ted Leland was hired as the athletics director, then became the senior associate athletics director three years later. She was in charge of coordinating long-range programs for the department, including the development of new programs, income maximization and facilities management and development. O'Neal also served as laision between the department and the Dartmouth College Athletic Council as well as with various college administrative groups, including faculty and staff members. In addition, budget protocol and development along with employee development and continuing education came under her purview.
When Leland departed for Stanford in January of 1989, O'Neal was named interim athletics director and guided the department until Dick Jaeger '59 — who passed away two weeks ago — was appointed to the position in May of that year.
In the 1981-82 school year, O'Neal served as the president of the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW), an organization that encompassed schools in New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic states and conducted regional championships in 18 women's sports.
A passionate advocate for women's rights, O'Neal was a key figure in bringing about change for women in college athletics while excelling at the highest levels as a coach and administrator throughout her career.
"Louise was a pioneer and advocate for equity," said Josie Harper '47a, who coached women's lacrosse and served on the administrative staff with O'Neal before becoming the first female athletics director in the Ivy League in 2002. "She did much to level the playing ground for women and their programs. She was a mentor to me, who encouraged me to go into administration. Although she could be very tough on you, she always tried to bring out your best in you."
O'Neal came to Dartmouth following a successful three-year stint as the women's basketball coach and assistant AD at Yale, leading the Bulldogs to their first Ivy League title in 1979 and postseason berths all three years. She also was the head coach of the U.S. National Team that won the gold medal at the 1979 International Tournament at Squaw Valley.
Prior to Yale, O'Neal spent 14 seasons as the head women's basketball coach at Southern Connecticut State College, compiling an impressive 144-37 record and leading her team to eight consecutive appearances in the National Women's Collegiate Championships.
O'Neal departed Dartmouth in 1990 to become the athletics director at Wellesley College and was chosen as the National Administrator of the Year in 1994 by the National Association for Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA). In 2004, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named her as the winner of its Jostens-Berenson Service Award, recognizing her lifelong commitment and service to the game of women's basketball. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
O'Neal graduated from North Texas State and received her master's from the University of Wisconsin, plus was a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management and the Institute for Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College.
Hired by AD Seaver Peters as the assistant athletics director in 1979 when Aggie Kurtz stepped down to focus her attention on coaching the women's squash and lacrosse teams, O'Neal supervised all aspects of the 15 women's sports that Dartmouth offered as well as the administration of enrollment activities and facilities for both the men's and women's programs.
O'Neal was promoted to associate athletics director in 1983 after Ted Leland was hired as the athletics director, then became the senior associate athletics director three years later. She was in charge of coordinating long-range programs for the department, including the development of new programs, income maximization and facilities management and development. O'Neal also served as laision between the department and the Dartmouth College Athletic Council as well as with various college administrative groups, including faculty and staff members. In addition, budget protocol and development along with employee development and continuing education came under her purview.
When Leland departed for Stanford in January of 1989, O'Neal was named interim athletics director and guided the department until Dick Jaeger '59 — who passed away two weeks ago — was appointed to the position in May of that year.
In the 1981-82 school year, O'Neal served as the president of the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW), an organization that encompassed schools in New England, New York and the Mid-Atlantic states and conducted regional championships in 18 women's sports.
A passionate advocate for women's rights, O'Neal was a key figure in bringing about change for women in college athletics while excelling at the highest levels as a coach and administrator throughout her career.
"Louise was a pioneer and advocate for equity," said Josie Harper '47a, who coached women's lacrosse and served on the administrative staff with O'Neal before becoming the first female athletics director in the Ivy League in 2002. "She did much to level the playing ground for women and their programs. She was a mentor to me, who encouraged me to go into administration. Although she could be very tough on you, she always tried to bring out your best in you."
O'Neal came to Dartmouth following a successful three-year stint as the women's basketball coach and assistant AD at Yale, leading the Bulldogs to their first Ivy League title in 1979 and postseason berths all three years. She also was the head coach of the U.S. National Team that won the gold medal at the 1979 International Tournament at Squaw Valley.
Prior to Yale, O'Neal spent 14 seasons as the head women's basketball coach at Southern Connecticut State College, compiling an impressive 144-37 record and leading her team to eight consecutive appearances in the National Women's Collegiate Championships.
O'Neal departed Dartmouth in 1990 to become the athletics director at Wellesley College and was chosen as the National Administrator of the Year in 1994 by the National Association for Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA). In 2004, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) named her as the winner of its Jostens-Berenson Service Award, recognizing her lifelong commitment and service to the game of women's basketball. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
O'Neal graduated from North Texas State and received her master's from the University of Wisconsin, plus was a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management and the Institute for Higher Education Administration at Bryn Mawr College.
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