KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Longtime Harvard Senior Associate Athletics Director Patricia Henry is one of four recipients of the 2022 Nike Lifetime Achievement Award, the Women Leaders in College Sports announced on Tuesday.
 
Henry, who retired in June 2019 after 40 years of service, oversaw the programming of the largest Division I varsity athletics program in the nation and was responsible for the development and well-being of 42 varsity teams. A 2018 inductee into the ECAC Hall of Fame, Henry was instrumental in the success of Harvard Athletics during her time in Cambridge, championing the athletic department's mission of "Education through Athletics" and "Building Community and Pride in Harvard," while strongly advocating for the department's operating philosophy of offering broad-based programs and "Athletics for All."  
 
Among her many accomplishments, Henry helped establish the Harvard Radcliffe Foundation for Women's Athletics in 1981, which has greatly enhanced and broadened the programming and financial support for Harvard's women's athletics programs, and spearheaded Harvard's efforts to celebrate the Ivy League Silver Anniversary of Women's Championships in 1999. She also worked to develop a partnership between Athletics Sports Medicine and University Health Services, creating a model for how college athletics departments and campus health services organizations can work together to best serve student-athletes. 
 
Women Leaders in College Sports is committed to recognizing the achievements and successes of women working in athletics. Celebrating these accomplishments is an integral piece of advancing women in athletics.
 
"In the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, we are thrilled to celebrate this group of exemplary women who are blazing trails in the industry of college sports," said Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports. "These women are the definition of leaders and way-showers. They are highly deserving of their awards, and we can't wait to honor them."
    
Henry and her fellow recipients will be recognized at the Women Leaders National Convention held in Kansas City from Oct. 9-11.
 
Other Nike Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Alfreeda Goff (Former Sr. Associate Commissioner of Championships, Horizon League), Dru Ann Hancock (Former Sr. Associate Commissioner, Big 12 Conference) and Laurie Priest (Former Chair of Physical Education and Director of Athletics Emeritus, Mount Holyoke College).