The promotion of Professor Jane Betts from associate to senior associate athletic director, Dr. Richard A. Hill, MIT athletic director and head of the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation has announced.
Dr. Hill said that in her new position Professor Betts will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the department, including strategic planning, projects and other assignments in support of student interests and community needs.
In making the announcement Dr. Hill said, "The department is fortunate to have a person with Jane's leadership qualities and experiences in such an important post. I am very enthusiastic about working with and through Jane to strongly position the department for the varied challenges of the decade and the 21st century."
Professor Betts, 51, an associate professor, is in her 17th year as a member of the teaching faculty and administration. She came to the Institute in 1976 following 11 years at Valparaiso University where she coached women's gymnastics and tennis and taught physical education classes.
Professor Betts assumed the role of women's gymnastics coach and director of women's athletics when she arrived at MIT. In 1978 she became assistant athletic director in charge of facility operation and women's sports. A promotion to associate director of athletics for finance and administration followed in 1987.
During her ascent through the administrative ranks at MIT, Professor Betts became one of the most widely recognized proponents of women's athletics in the country. She has been president of the Massachusetts Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW), the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW), and was co-founder and the first president of the New England Women's 8 Conference.
In addition she has been a national vice-president for Division III of the AIAW, co-director of the AIAW national rowing championship, on the board of directors of the Collegiate Council for Women Athletics Administrators, she is currently a member of the NCAA Gymnastics Committee, and most recently was been named a member of the NCAA President's Commission Liaison Committee. She has delivered papers and speeches on both women's athletics and athletic money management at numerous meetings and conventions including two separate National Collegiate Directors of Athletics conventions. She has also served on advisory committees at Oberlin College, Hampden-Sydney College and Wellesley College.
Professor Betts has also been very prominent in the administration of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC). She has served on the ECAC Council, and been a member of both the Katherine Ley Award Committee and the Distinguished Achievement Award Committee.
Among her honors are the Franklin College Alumni Athletic Achievement Award, the MAIAW Merit Award and the Katherine Ley Award.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on December 9, 1992.
