Maryland Athletics - University of Maryland Official Athletic Site

Deborah A. Yow
Director of Athletics
16th Year

Deborah A. Yow is in the 16th year of her outstanding tenure as director of athletics at the University of Maryland, a tenure that has seen unprecedented success and achievement in Maryland athletics. In Yow's 15-plus years at Maryland, the Terrapins have won a remarkable 18 national championships and graduated student-athletes at an enviable rate as Maryland athletics has soared to sustained new heights among the nation's elite intercollegiate athletic programs.

The comprehensive success of Terrapin athletics under Debbie Yow's leadership is a clear and compelling testimony of her values of excellence, teamwork and accountability.

Likewise, her prior election to the presidency of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics is an indication of the wide respect with which she is regarded among its 6,100 members representing 1,600 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. She serves as the current President of the national Division I-A Athletic Directors Association and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Football Foundation, as well as the Board of Directors of USA Football and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Committee.

She has been honored by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal as one of the 20 most influential people in intercollegiate athletics, was cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education in October 2007 as one of the "Ten Most Powerful People in College Athletics/The Builder" and she has received the Carl Maddox Sport Management Award presented by the United States Sports Academy for excellence in athletics administration.

Dr. Yow was selected to serve on the U.S. Department of Education's Commission on Opportunities in Athletics to review the status of Federal Title IX regulations. She served as the chair of the Atlantic Coast Conference Committee on Television. The committee is charged with overseeing the league's TV contracts and dealing with issues related to television, including multi-year ACC football and basketball contracts with ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and syndication entities.

Additionally, she has represented intercollegiate athletics with presentations in a number of prominent settings such as the Harvard University School of Law conference on "Shaping the Future of Collegiate Athletics" and the Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal "National Forum on the Direction of Intercollegiate Athletics" in New York.

Yow, who has served on the NCAA Management Council and the NCAA Division I Budget Committee, is a strong and steady voice on behalf of intercollegiate athletics in America.

Since taking over as AD at Maryland in 1994, she and her staff have:

Transformed Terrapin athletics into a responsive, goal-oriented organization with 27 sports and more than 700 student-athletes.

Balanced athletics budgets (none of the budgets were balanced in the 10 years prior to her arrival). The budget now approaches $60 million annually and the $51 million debt which her administration inherited has been reduced to $7.6 million.

Greatly enhanced the academic support services provided for student-athletes, with an enviable exhausted eligibility graduation rate of 90 percent for student-athletes at Maryland. Academic outcomes and student-athlete welfare have received consistent and focused attention.

Led the Terrapins to a national all-sports ranking in the upper 7 percent of all NCAA Division I institutions.

Significantly expanded marketing and fund-raising efforts on behalf of Terrapin athletics. As a result, private gifts to athletics have increased over 350 percent and corporate sponsorship revenues have increased by over 300 percent during her tenure at Maryland.

Continued to dramatically improve venues and facilities for the department's 27 teams. The 18,000-seat Comcast Center for men's and women's basketball and other sports that use the facility is a prime example of the remarkable $250 million upgrade of athletic facilities.

Implemented a strategic management model.

Developed a comprehensive Internet strategy with management, marketing and fund-raising applications.

Significantly improved customer care in every area of Maryland athletics.

The most recent achievements of Maryland athletics are exceptional:

In 2009, the NCAA News named Maryland as one of the Top 10 athletics programs in the nation for the year. One of the most successful seasons in Maryland Athletics' storied history, the Terrapins won two national championships, five teams earned ACC championships and 18 teams were represented in postseason competition and the program enjoyed an outstanding year in academic achievement and community service.

Maryland captured a remarkable nine national championships during the past four seasons.

Recently, the Terrapins achieved the highest student-athlete graduation rate in the history of Maryland athletics and had the highest graduation rate of any public institution in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Fundraising for Maryland athletics set a historic mark of $24.7 million in 2006-07.

Maryland was selected by U.S. News & World Report and Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 20 athletic programs in the nation (for overall quality and competitive excellence).

Maryland Athletics won the inaugural PRISM Award as the best-managed Division I collegiate athletics program in the nation.

Maryland was ranked as the sixth-finest athletic program in the nation by the Center for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics, based on comprehensive criteria such as graduation rates, financial efficiency, equity effectiveness and competitive excellence.

In men's basketball, the Terps won the Atlantic Coast Conference title over Duke in the championship game in 2004 and won the NCAA National Championship in 2002. Under Coach Gary Williams, the men's basketball team appeared in 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments and in 13 of the last 16 tournaments.

Women's basketball won the 2006 NCAA National Championship under head coach Brenda Frese, completing a remarkable turnaround that saw the program go from a 10-18 record to a National Championship in four seasons. The program has risen to become annually one of America's elite women's collegiate basketball programs.

In football, the Terps won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and played in the 2002 Orange Bowl, followed that with an 11-win season and a 30-3 victory over the University of Tennessee in the Peach Bowl, again followed by a 10-win season and a 41-7 win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day 2004. In the 2006 season, Maryland defeated Purdue, 24-7, in the Champs Sports Bowl, in 2007 was selected to play Oregon State in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco and in 2008-09 defeated Nevada in the Terps' bowl appearance. Graduation rates in football are exemplary and the program was recently recognized by the American Football Coaches Association for its academic excellence under Coach Ralph Friedgen.

Additionally, Maryland is one of only three universities in the nation to win National Championships in men's basketball, women's basketball and football. Stanford and UCLA are the other NCAA Division I institutions to achieve that mark.

Maryland women's basketball set an ACC single-game record for attendance by drawing 17,950 to a regular-season game at Comcast Center and leads the ACC in season attendance.

Field hockey earned National Championships in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09, and has become a perennial participant in the Final Four in that sport.

In women's lacrosse, hired Cathy Reese, who was named the 2007 ACC Coach of the Year in her first season as coach of the Terps, followed by a NCAA Tournament appearance where the team advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2008-09.

Men's soccer has appeared in five Final Fours in the past seven years and won two NCAA National Championships in the past four seasons.

Football facilities have been significantly enhanced with team house, stadium and practice field upgrades. The Football Academic Center was the first improvement, as it took priority over all other initiatives.

The Princeton Review named Maryland's athletics facilities as No. 1 in the nation in 2009.

The productivity, morale, and the competitive and academic achievement of Terrapin athletics are exceptional and continue to gain momentum.

Regarding the many achievements of Terrapin athletics over the past 15 years, Yow says, "We are pleased, but we are not satisfied... our vision is to be one of the Top 5 programs in the nation consistently... we see no reason to settle for less."

Yow is known for her goal-oriented and proactive management style. She consistently inspires and challenges those around her to "raise our sights and sharpen our tools... to work hard and work smart... to recognize that our only limitations are those that we place upon ourselves."

As a manager and a leader, she clearly models these principles. She is the only known current AD in NCAA Division I who has hired both the National Coach of the Year in football (while at Maryland) and the National Coach of the Year in men's basketball (while at Saint Louis University). In 2002, she also brought to the University of Maryland Brenda Frese, who at that time was the National Coach of the Year in women's basketball. Four years later, Frese led the Terrapins to the NCAA National Championship at the Women's Final Four in Boston.

Dr. Yow is known as "a coach's A.D.," while also being highly organized and a strategic and proactive leader and administrator. Quite simply, Debbie Yow personifies the relational and management dynamics that are necessary to be an excellent administrator and leader.

A successful former basketball coach, she moved into athletics administration at the University of Florida and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, followed by a successful tenure as A.D. at Saint Louis University.

She has authored numerous articles and books on athletics management and human behavior, and is a respected leader in intercollegiate athletics in the United States. She holds a bachelor's degree from Elon University, a masters degree from Liberty University, a doctorate (honorus causa) from the United States Sports Academy and an honorary doctorate for professional achievement from Elon University.

Summing up the entire Maryland athletics program, our athletics director recently stated, "We have the finest student-athletes, coaches, support staff and administrative team in America. It is because of their courage, hard work and cooperative spirit that we now have a strong, viable athletic program. I am immensely proud of each of them. I am equally proud of our Terrapin fans who buy tickets, our Terrapin Club members who faithfully support the Maryland athletic program with their donations for scholarships, and the M Club members who serve and give liberally. We are also blessed with a terrific President, Dr. Dan Mote, who has fostered a mindset of excellence across our institution. He is a strong and balanced advocate for what he calls `the three A's of the University -- Academics, the Arts and Athletics'. We have a great Terrapin family. That's the foundation for all of our success... and the basis for our bright future. It's a great time to be a Terp."