Chris Plonsky of the University of Texas to speak at CDSWOY Event
AUSTIN, TX — Chris Plonsky of the University of Texas, one of the leading administrators in collegiate athletics and a past president of three national organizations, will serve as a virtual Guest Speaker for the first Capital District Sports Women of the Year Awards Event. The event will be held on Tuesday, August 18 at The Desmond Hotel Albany at 6 p.m.
Due to current conditions, the event will be limited in attendance to award recipients and two guests. But the event will be broadcast with a live video. Individuals who register for the live video by August 12 will receive a complimentary mailed copy of the 2020 CDSWOY Awards Event Program, a 32-page publication that includes exclusive features written by sports staff members of The Daily Gazette. A drawing will be held from all video registrants and one lucky winner will receive a personal portrait photography package from Lauren Hull Photography.
Plonsky has worked in college athletics since 1976 and is in her 32nd year at The University of Texas. She is Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff and is UT’s Senior Woman Administrator for Big 12 Conference and NCAA governance.
Plonsky is a USA Basketball board member, a USOC Collegiate Advisory Council member and an emeritus board member of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame. She is past president of NACDA, NACMA and Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA). She is a past member of the NACDA Board, the LEAD1 board (formerly Division 1AD Association) and has served NCAA committees on Academic Performance, Women’s Basketball Competition and NCAA Commercialization activities. She chaired the NCAA Division I Management Council in 2003.
“I am so pleased that Chris Plonsky will serve as our Guest Speaker for the first Capital District Sports Women of the Year Awards Event,” stated Eric McDowell, President of CDSWOY. “I’ve known and followed her from her start in athletic communications, through her years at the Big East and at the University of Texas. She is one of the most respected collegiate athletic administrators in the country. Her words of wisdom from her experiences, including serving as President of NACDA and also the Women’s Leaders in College Sports organization, will serve as a guiding light to our honorees. I truly thank her for her time and support of CDSWOY.”
Plonsky supervises staff leaders in student services (academics, career/leadership/personal development), equipment, compliance/risk management and sports medicine/health and wellness/strength performance. The latter area also includes staff experts in nutrition, behavioral health and applied sports science.
At Texas, she was women’s athletics director from April 2001-December 2017. From 1993-2017, she also supervised revenue areas in sponsorship, marketing, licensing and television. She worked in communications/media relations at Iowa State University (1979-81), Texas (1982-86) and The BIG EAST Conference (1986-90). After three years in administration at The BIG EAST as associate commissioner (1990-93), she returned to Texas in October 1993.
Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Greensburg, Pa., and northeast Ohio, Plonsky earned a B.S. Journalism degree in 1979 at Kent State University, where she was a three-year basketball student-athlete, undergraduate KSU athletics media relations assistant and editor of The Daily Kent Stater.
In Austin, Plonsky is a member of many University campus committees and serves as a volunteer on the University Federal Credit Union supervisory committee.
The Capital District Sports Women of the Year Awards Event will recognize 10 high school and three college female student-athletes for outstanding academics, athletics and community service.
