Winston-Salem State University graduate and former North Carolina A&T Director of Athletics Dee Todd is set to win a big-time award.
Todd has been named an honoree of Nike’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Women Leaders in College Sports.
In 1995, Dee Todd became the first woman of color to serve as NACWAA (National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators) president.
Dee’s time as president saw growth in membership, increased sponsorship, a national search for a full-time executive director, and a “strengthened voice among the ranks of other national associations.”
During her presidency, Dee lead by her words “We can make our dreams and those of the women who paved the way before us, a reality. WE are Women in Athletics, WE are survivors, WE should strive to share our experiences with each other. WE must instill the need for hard work, honestly and determination.”
DeLores “Dee” Todd is a woman of many firsts in her career as a trailblazer. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Winston-Salem State University and a master’s degree from Governors State University, Dee worked as a teacher and track and field coach at the high school level. Nine years later, Dee was named the first full-time track and field and cross-country coach at Northwestern University, marking the first woman of color head coach in the history of the university. Three years later, she was named Big 10 Cross Country Coach of the Year. Dee became the head track and field and cross-country coach at Georgia Tech in 1985, again etching history as the first ACC African-American head coach. Two years later, she was named the ACC Track Coach of the Year.
In 1980, Dee became the first African American female to appear on a box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. On March 7, 2018, Dee was  featured  again on National Cereal Day.
Dee chaired the United States Olympic Committee, Minorities in Sports Task Force, and was the co-founder of the Project Gold leadership class. Many members of the Project Gold classes are successful athletic, political, and community leaders today.
In 1988, Dee became the first female and the first minority to serve as the assistant commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. For 12 years, Dee oversaw the growth of women’s basketball and several other sports in the ACC. In 1994, Dee and her SEC counterpart, Pat Wall, led the nation to drive three-person officiating for women’s basketball. She was also the first female to serve on the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee.
After 17 years at a conference office, Dee became North Carolina A&T State University’s first female athletic director After 50-plus years in the industry, Dee remains active through her retirement with intercollegiate athletics, Speaker on domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, and coaching boys and girls at the high school level. She also serves as a NCAA Baseball Site Rep for Regionals and Super Regionals.
Born in Washington DC (Feb 29) and raised in Camden, NJ Dee is currently living close to her family in Raleigh, NC Her son Stuart and his wife Charmion are the parents of her only grandchildren Mia (14) and Michael Todd (10) who are the joys of her life!