Christine Grant


Christine Grant is a former athlete and athletic director at the University of Iowa. She was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. Grant was also inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Early life and education

Grant was born in May 1936 in Bo’ness, Scotland, to Donald Annan and Jean Grant. In 1956 Grant received her Diploma of Physical Education at Dunfermline College in Aberdeen, Scotland. After graduating she was a high school teacher and coach in Graeme, Scotland, and field hockey coach and umpire at the high school, collegiate, national and international levels in British Columbia, Ottawa, and Toronto. Grant moved to Iowa City, Iowa, to pursue a bachelor's degree in physical education at the University of Iowa, which she received in 1969. She continued her graduate work, earning a master's degree in physical education in 1970, and a Ph.D. in physical education with an emphasis in administration in 1974.

Athletic director

Grant became the first women's athletic director at Iowa in 1973, a post she held until her retirement in 2000. After her retirement, Iowa merged its men's and women's athletic departments.
Under Grant's direction, Iowa's athletics department grew to include 12 NCAA championship sports that won a combined 27 Big Ten Conference titles. Throughout her career, Grant was honored by NACWAA, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the Women's Sports Foundation and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. Grant also served as associate professor within the Department of Physical Education for Women.

Historical significance and honors

Grant is best known for her fight for gender equity in athletics. She testified before Congress several times and served as a consultant for the Civil Rights Title IX Task Force. She was a founding member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and served in a variety of leadership roles with that organization. She also has held several positions with the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, including the presidency from 1987-89. Grant has spoken and published widely and has held numerous leadership positions as an advocate of gender equity in sports. She served as the president of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women from 1980 to 1981. She received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Billie Jean King Award presented by the Women’s Sports Foundation, two honorary doctorates, and induction into the University of Iowa Athletics Hall of Fame and the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Grant became the fourth recipient of the NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award. The Gerald R. Ford Award, named in recognition of former President Gerald Ford, honors individuals who have provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis over the course of his or her career. That same year she was named one of the most 100 influential sports educators in America by the Institute of International Sport.