Northeastern University Athletics

Jeanne Rowlands was elected to the Hall of Fame for her contributions as a coach, teacher and leader of women's athletics at Northeastern.

Rowlands, whose pioneering efforts lifted the women's athletics movement to higher plateaus, retired in 1991, leaving one of New England's exemplary programs behind at Northeastern. She devoted twenty-five years as a professor of Physical Education, coach, and athletics director to women's issues in collegiate sports, both before, during and after Title Nine raised the collective conscience of administrators nationwide. Northeastern honored Rowlands in 1991 by awarding her an Honorary Doctorate degree. A nucleus of six varsity teams expanded to ten, most of which have either captured or made serious runs at conference titles since she took over as Coordinator of Women's Athletics in 1974. Rowlands carved an impressive niche as coach, guiding the women's basketball team from 1966 to 1978 and also coaching varsity volleyball. By no coincidence, Rowlands' tenure paralleled a period of astronomical growth in women's intercollegiate athletics. A graduate of Ohio State, Rowlands became Chair if the EAIAW Ethics and Eligibility Committee and served from 1975 to 1978. She was Chief of Mission for the United States Women's Basketball Tour in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. In 1976, she was appointed Manager of the Olympic basketball team.