Lynn Hickey​

Lynn Hickey’s leadership at the helm of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s athletics department spurred the program to heights it had never reached. In her 18-year tenure at UTSA, she added three new sports, moved conferences twice, and boomed in total budget, among other accomplishments.​

Before arriving in San Antonio, Hickey was a star athlete and a successful coach. In high school, she led Welch High School to a 76-5 record over her last three years. She went on to play at Ouachita Baptist University and was the second-leading scorer for the U.S. National Team in 1973. After graduating, she became an assistant coach at Oklahoma University for a stint before becoming head coach at Kansas State University. In five years with the Wildcats, she led them to a 125-39 record and an Elite Eight Appearance. In 1984, she assumed the double role of head coach and assistant athletic director at Texas A&M University. After 10 years of coaching the Aggies, which included a Sweet Sixteen appearance, she became a full-time administrator at the school, where she spent the next five years as senior associate athletics director.​

In 1999, Hickey was hired as UTSA’s athletic director. The hiring made her the only female Division 1 athletic director in Texas. Upon her arrival, the school’s athletics program was only 15 years old, was a member of the Southland Conference, and had 14 sports. Over the next 18 years, Hickey worked to add women’s golf and soccer, as well as the addition of football in 2009. In 2013, all sports made the switch to Conference USA. UTSA was the host of numerous NCAA Championship events during her time, including five men’s and women’s Final Fours. Upon leaving the position in 2017, the school’s athletics budget had risen from 1 to 28 million. In 2018, Hickey was hired as the athletic director at Eastern Washington.​