Awards
- School of Public Health Anita Aldrich Distinguished Alumni Award - 2009
- School of Public Health W.W. Patty Distinguished Alumni Award - 2001
Visionary, luminary, fearless pioneer. There is perhaps no better way to describe Joan S. Hult, the scholar, activist, and Indiana University alumna who helped chart the course of equality for women in intercollegiate sport. As a faculty member at Concordia College in Morehead, Minnesota, Dr. Hult helped establish the Minn-Koda Women’s Intercollegiate Conference, one of the few such conferences in its day.
She is widely recognized for her diligent behind-the-scenes work in Washington for the passage of Title IX and her comprehensive understanding of the history of women’s basketball—not to mention her passion for the game— made her perfectly suited to write the book “A Century of Women’s Basketball: From Frailty to Final Four.”
Professor emeriti from the University of Maryland and author of scores of articles and book chapters in her field, Dr. Hult received her BS from Indiana University in 1954, her M.Ed from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 1958, and in 1967 earned her doctorate from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Dr. Hult is also currently in the process of publishing a second book about the history of women’s athletics, has served as a consultant to both HBO and ESPN, and is part owner of an athletic and sport consulting firm.