Former Fresno State Associate Athletics Director Diane Milutinovich was honored with the Nike Lifetime Achievement award at the Women Leaders National Convention on Tuesday.
Milutinovich and the other recipients were nominated by their peers and selected by the Women Leaders Awards Committee.
The big picture: Milutinovich was one of three people to receive the reward, joining Former Regis University Athletics Director Barbara Schroeder and former Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Indianapolis Sue Willey.
- A dozen other women were Nike Executive of the Year award recipients and BSN Sports Rising Executive award recipients.
- The convention was held in Baltimore from Sunday through Tuesday.
Driving the news: Milutinovich is known for her advocacy for women in collegiate sports through Title IX during her time as Fresno State.
- She served as a teacher, head coach and administrator at Fresno State for 27 years, which ended with a discrimination lawsuit against the university that was settled for $3.5 million.
- During her time at Fresno State, Milutinovich supervised 15 men’s and women’s sports and served on various university committees, including the Academic Senate, WASC Accreditation and the Gender Equity Monitoring Committee.
- Milutinovich also served on committees for the Big West, Western Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference and others, as well some on the NCAA level.
Flashback: At the local level, Milutinovich was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.
- She also received the lifetime Achievement Award in 2022 from the National Women’s Political Caucus – Fresno Chapter.
