INDIANAPOLIS – After spending her entire adult life at University of Indianapolis, Dr. Sue Willey recently announced her upcoming retirement following the 2019-20 academic year. This season marks the last of 17 for Dr. Willey as the Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics – her 45th year overall at the university.
 
The 2012-13 Under Armour Division II Athletic Director of the Year, 2010 Under Armour Division II Central Region Athletic Director of the Year and 2005 NACWAA Division II Administrator of the Year has guided the Greyhounds to uncharted territory in her time at the helm. Dr. Willey has established UIndy as one of the top overall athletic programs in NCAA Division II. In her tenure, the Greyhounds have become regular qualifiers for NCAA postseason play and a consistent threat for conference, regional and national championships.
 
"I have a great passion for it," Willey told the UIndy student newspaper, The Reflector. "Being able to see all the changes that have taken place on campus and in our athletic department has been [the] most rewarding and exciting to see the growth of the institution. It's just been, like most people say, it's been a great ride and it continues to be."
 
Most recently, the 2018-19 academic year proved to be one of the most successful in UIndy Athletics history. The Greyhounds combined to win a league-record nine GLVC championships – part of a program-best 10 conference titles overall. Meanwhile, the women's golf, men's lacrosse and women's tennis programs all notched national semifinal appearances, while the men's swimming & diving team earned its second consecutive third-place finish at Nationals.

The Greyhounds finished fifth in the 2018-19 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, notching the program's 13th consecutive top-20 showing in the prestigious standings and seventh top-10 in the last eight seasons. UIndy is one of only three DII athletics programs in the country with such a lengthy top-20 streak.
 
The UIndy student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom as well. A league-high five student-athletes were named GLVC Scholar-Athletes of the Year in their respective sport in 2018-19. UIndy has paced the conference in that metric in eight of the past 11 seasons and has the most all-time honorees of any school. Additionally, the Greyhounds garnered seven Academic All-America honors in '18-19, bringing their total to 96 all-time  -- ninth-most of any Division II school.

UIndy's athletic programs and facilities have seen tremendous growth under Dr. Willey's watch. The number of varsity teams on campus has increased to 23, while the total number of student-athletes has grown to nearly 700. Key Stadium and Nicoson Hall have seen modern renovations, and the Athletics and Recreation Center was constructed during her tenure. Furthermore, the 2015 women's golf program delivered the athletic department's first-ever team NCAA national championship. The team followed that up with a second national title in 2018.
 
In 2018 only 13 percent of Division I or II institutions' athletic departments were helmed by women. Dr. Willey has proudly forged a path for women in athletics from the moment she was hired in 1975. Seeing firsthand how the roles of women have changed in the industry during her career, she has remained at the forefront of the fight for equal opportunity in sports. She broke barriers when she became the University's first female director of athletics and one of the first women to be a member of the President's Cabinet.
 
Dr. Willey was selected as the 2005 Division II Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Woman Athletic Administrators (NACWAA). She was also selected as the 2004 Pathfinder Award winner, presented in recognition of her strong commitment to provide quality sport and leadership opportunities for girls and women in the state of Indiana. Dr. Willey served a four-year (2006-10) term on both the NACWAA Executive Board and the DII Nominating Committee and is currently serving a four-year stint on the NCAA Division II Membership Committee that started in September 2010.  She is also a graduate of the NACWAA Institute for Athletic Executives.
 
From 2002-2006, Dr. Willey served on the highest NCAA Committee available to athletic administrators, the NCAA Division II Management Council, and also served as chair of the Council in 2004. Her Management Council assignments included the DII Budget and Finance Committee, Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee, Management Council Identity Subcommittee, Championships Regionalization Task Force, Project Team to Review Issues Related to Diversity and the Championships Eligibility Project Team. 
 
Dr. Willey is a frequent guest speaker for various groups. Her past engagements include speaking at the NCAA Football Coaches Academy, GLVC Aspire Summit, NCAA Conference Interns Seminar, Gender Equity and Issues Forum, NCAA and NACWAA National Conventions, NACWAA/HERS Institute for Administrative Advancement, Women's Leadership Symposium, and the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males.
 
A 1993 inductee into the UIndy Athletic Hall of Fame, Dr. Willey earned an incredible 19 letters and 11 MVP awards in her four-year career. She was the "Female Athlete of the Year" from 1972-75. She began her coaching career at her alma mater after graduating cum laude from UIndy in 1975. The versatile Willey coached 23 years at UIndy, directing 43 different teams in five sports. She was the GLVC Softball Coach of the Year in 1989, and her softball teams earned national academic honors in 1996 and 1997.
 
Dr. Willey's responsibilities as director of athletics include participation on several important campus committees, including serving on the President's Cabinet and the Financial Aid and Policies Committee. She is an associate professor of health and physical education at UIndy and has taught in the Department of Kinesiology for nearly three decades, with a special teaching interest in sport ethics. Dr. Willey holds a master's degree and a doctorate from Indiana University.
 
"I'm going to leave this institution and the athletic department in a better place than what I found it," concluded Willey, "knowing full well that the next person is going to take it from where I leave it onto greater heights. That's what I want. I want to leave it a great place. We've got great people, great leadership… we've made great progress, but the next person is going to come in and still continue to do things however they see fit."