Hall of Fame
After starting her career as an athletic administrator at Slippery Rock State College, Cheryl Levick has vaulted into a position as one of college sports' top female leaders.
That sustained climb landed Levick in the Slippery Rock University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Levick, a former Rock head women's gymnastics coach, educator and athletic director, is a native of St Louis, Mo. and graduate of the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. Levick began her coaching career as a physical education instructor, head gymnastics coach and assistant women's track coach at her alma mater, Pattonville High School.
Two years later, Levick became an associate instructor of physical education and assistant gymnastics and synchronized swimming coach at Indiana University in Bloomington, where she enrolled in the athletic administration master's degree program.
Upon completion of her master's degree in 1977, Levick was hired as Slippery Rock's head women's gymnastics coach. She served in that role until 1982 and took on added responsibilities as associate director of athletics (1980-82), assistant professor of physical education (1980-82) and interim director of athletics (1982).
Levick left The Rock in 1982 to become the NCAA's assistant director of women's programs and later served as the national office's assistant director of communications (1983-85) and youth programs coordinator (1985-86).
In April 1986, Levick joined the Pacific 10 Conference as an assistant commissioner and remained in that role until May 1988 when she was named as associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator at Stanford University. Levick was promoted to senior associate director of athletics/SWA in 1991 and remained in that role until 2000.
Levick served as director of athletics at Santa Clara University from 2000-04, director of athletics at Saint Louis University from 2004-07 and as chief of staff/executive senior associate director of athletics at the University of Maryland from 2007-09.
In April 2009, Levick accepted her current position as director of athletics at Georgia State University, where she leads an 18-sport NCAA Division I program for an institution with more than 31,000 students. Under her leadership, GSU successfully launched its football program in 2010 and secured the largest single donation in the athletic program's history, a $1.5 million commitment.
Levick's leadership skills have been duly noted throughout her impressive career as an athletic administrator. She was named in both 1998 and 1999 as one of the Top 25 Female Sports Executives by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal and earned the 2001 Woman of the Year Achievement Award in Sports presented by the San Jose Mercury News and the Women's Fund of San Jose, Calif.
Levick also received the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators National Administrator of the Year Award for Division I-A in 2000, served as president of the Division I-AAAA Athletic Directors Association from 2004-05 and received the General Sports TURF Systems NCAA Division I Central Region Athletic Director of the Year Award in 2005-06.
The latest additions to Levick's impressive list of honors were her selection in 2007 as the Most Influential Leader in Sports and Entertainment by the St. Louis Business Journal and as the 2006 recipient of the 2006 Carl O. Bauer Award as the top figure in amateur sports in St. Louis by the Missouri Athletic Club.
Levick served as co-chair of the 2006 NCAA Men's College Cup Local Organizing Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee of the LOC for the 2005 NCAA Men's Final Four for events held in St. Louis, as well as being actively involved in other NCAA and conference championship events held in cities in which she was employed at the time.
The mother of two daughters, Levick is active in the community as a member of the Atlanta Sports Council and Zoo Atlanta Leadership Council.
