Hall of Fame
Nance began her professional career as a coach but as her management abilities emerged she was swept up in the challenge of guiding Towson through its growth as a NCAA Division I program and the development of women’s athletics locally, regionally and nationally.
A Michigan State graduate, Nance joined the Tiger staff in August,1982 as Towson’s head field hockey coach, assistant women’s lacrosse coach and an administrative assistant. It didn’t take long to recognize her potential in administration which is where she spent most of her three decades with the Tigers.
Before Towson Nance was the head field hockey coach at her alma mater where she received a BS degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in coaching, and later a Master’s degree in Sports Psychology. She was a four-year letter winner in field hockey for MSU and a 1978 team captain. The Spartans posted a 24-17-2 record with Nance at the helm (1980-81).
Nance coached the Tigers’ field hockey squad for four seasons. She retired from coaching in 1986 to accept her appointment as assistant athletics director, becoming Towson’s first female athletics administrator as the Tigers continued transitioning from the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) to the NCAA. She was charged with developing and overseeing student-athlete centered activities, including compliance, academic services, financial aid, student services/life skills and eligibility.
In 2001 she assumed responsibility for the oversight of Internal Operations that included budgets, facilities, team support services and equipment. She was a member of the athletics group responsible for overseeing the $32 million Unitas Stadium renovation completed in 2003. Her supervision of the business staff included managing the growth of the department’s operating budget from $7 million to $15 million while helping to coordinate policies and practices for scheduling, travel, equipment requests and video services.
In 2010 Nance was named Senior Associate Director of Athletics for team administration, a position that essentially gave her responsibility of coordinating administrative oversight for all of Towson’s intercollegiate sport programs.
Over the course of her career Nance served on numerous conference committees and boards in America East, the Big South, the ECAC and the Colonial Athletic Association. At the national level she was a peer reviewer in the NCAA Athletics Certification program. She served on the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) nomination committee. From 1999-04 she was a member of the NCAA Field Hockey Committee. She sat on the NCAA Championship/Game Management Cabinet from 2005 to 2011. She was instrumental in bringing four NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Final Four National Championships to Unitas Stadium (2008-09-10 and 2014).
Nance was involved in several signature leadership programs. She participated in the initial Towson University Staff Leadership Institute and the NACWAA/Higher Education Resource Services inceptive Institute for Administrative Advancement. In 2008 she was invited to participate in the NACWAA Institute for Athletics Executives.
Among her honors she was recognized by the National Association for Girls and Women in Sports with its Pathfinder Award, selected by the NACWAA as its I-AA Administrator of the Year and cited by the All-American Football Foundation with its Outstanding Senior Associate Athletics Director Award. Nance passed away in 2020 at the age of 63.
