Ledwin and Menninger Named ECAC Jostens Administrators of the Year
CAPE COD, Mass. - Commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), Rudy Keeling, has announced that Donna Ledwin, commissioner of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and Dr. Harold "Chappy" Menninger, former director of athletics at Mount Saint Mary's University, have been named the 2007 ECAC Jostens Administrators of the Year.
The ECAC Jostens Male and Female Administrators of the Year awards are presented annually to administrators from ECAC member schools in recognition of outstanding or meritorious service to the ECAC.
The honorees will receive their awards during the annual ECAC Honors Dinner on September 30th presented by Jostens in conjunction with the ECAC Convention and Trade Show presented by Clark Companies, Clough Harbour Sports, Musco Lighting, and Sportsfield Specialties.
Ledwin was appointed as the first commissioner of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) in 2002. Aside from her executive administrative duties, she also serves as sports information director for the fourteen sports in which the ten member institutions compete.
The current president of the Division III Commissioners Association also serves on the NCAA Minority Opportunity and Interests Committee and the Division III Membership and Nominating Committees, in addition to serving as chair of several ECAC championship selection committees. Recognized for her ongoing efforts in the area of sportsmanship and ethical conduct at the conference and national levels, Ledwin was recently named a Sports Ethics Fellow by the International Institute for Sport. In 1998 she was honored as the NACWAA District III Administrator of the Year.
Prior to joining the AMCC, she was the commissioner of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). At the NJAC, Ledwin launched a website, reorganized the conference's operating structure, and added SUNY-Cortland as an affiliate member in football. In addition to her time in the conference offices, Ledwin has 15 years' experience on college campuses, serving as the director of athletics at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and the College of New Rochelle as well as an assistant athletic director at Yale University. She received her B.A. from Fordham University, where she competed in tennis and volleyball, and her M.B.A. from Boston University.
She resides in Pittsburgh with her husband, Chris Surratt, a faculty member in the School of Pharmacy at Duquesne University, and their 10-year-old daughter, Caroline.
Menninger, a former member of the ECAC Board of Directors, recently retired from his post at the Mount after 12 years of service to the institution. Under his direction, Mount St. Mary's facilities have received facelifts and a $3.5 million state-of-the-art stadium was constructed. Three varsity sports (women's golf, women's lacrosse and women's swimming) were added. The Mount has claimed three Northeast Conference Commissioner Cups while six teams have advanced to NCAA postseason championships, one to the NIT and others to ECAC Championship events. Menninger has seen Mount club gifts increase from $50,000 to $250,000. He also is responsible for the formation of the Athletics Advisory Board, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the Captains Council and the Faculty Athletic Representative position. In addition he organized the athletic department formally, introducing a sport tier system and a coaches salary classification.
A member of several NCAA committees, Menninger has served on the NCAA Division I Strategic Planning Council and served as chair of the NCAA Division I, II and III men's lacrosse championships in 2003 and 2004. He is a former President of the Maryland Athletic Director's Association.
Menninger is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he was an NCAA soccer All-American and a varsity lacrosse player. He earned his master's degree in biology from the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University and his Ed.D in educational administration from the University of New Mexico. Menninger and his wife Joan, who also recently retired, are the parents of two sons, Chris and Tim. The couple plan to retire in North Carolina.
Minneapolis-based Jostens, founded in 1897, is a leading provider of products, programs and services that help people celebrate important moments, recognize achievements and build affiliations. The company's products include yearbooks, class rings, graduation products, school photography and products for athletic champions and their fans.
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference with 321 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to Georgia and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors 98 championships in 37 men's and women's sports, assigns more than 5,100 officials in 14 sports, administers 10 affiliate sports organizations and seven playing leagues and recognizes more than 4,000 student-athletes in 20 sports through the public relations arm of the conference. The ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey, men's lacrosse, men's gymnastics, wrestling, fencing and rowing.
