Southern Connecticut, 1968
Donna Lopiano was an Honorary Inductee to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 2003.
Donna Lopiano is credited with doing more for women's sports in the United States than any other individual. Her love for sports began at a young age. As a young girl she was chosen as a pitcher for the local Little League team, but as she stood in line for her uniform, an adult used the "boys only" rule and denied Lopiano her right to play. This initial setback didn’t stop her desire to play. She played on a women’s softball team and in high school toured Europe and Asia with the team. Lopiano continued a strong athletic career when she attended Southern Connecticut State University. Her extraordinary athletic career included participation in twenty-six national championships in four sports: softball, basketball, volleyball and field hockey. Lopiano excelled on the softball field; she was a nine-time All-American at four different positions. After her graduation with a degree in physical education, Lopiano went to the University of Southern California to pursue graduate work. While in school, Lopiano’s softball team, the Brakettes, won the national title 1972, led by her hitting and pitching.
Lopiano moved to coaching both men’s and women’s sports including basketball, volleyball and softball at Brooklyn College. Then in 1975 she was named Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women at the University of Texas. Her accomplishments at Texas were both athletic and academic; women athletes won eighteen national championships in six sports and produced 314 All-Americans. The mean SAT scores of her players also went up 100 points.
Lopiano became known for holding her coaches responsible for both winning and insuring the satisfactory progress of their athletes toward a degree. She also made major strides in achieving financial equity for her programs with most women coaches receiving the same salaries as men. As director for the Women's Sports Foundation since 1992, Lopiano's mission is to ensure compliance with Title IX throughout the country.
Lopiano is the author of dozens of publications, holds two honorary doctorates and in 1995 was named one of the 100 most influential people in sports by The Sporting News. In addition to the Softball Hall of Fame, Lopiano is a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame and the national honors committee of the National Women's Hall of Fame.