Chris Voelz (born May 29, 1949) is the executive director of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards, the most prestigious national collegiate sports awards program for women since 1976. Voelz also heads her own consulting business, A+ (Athletics Plus), which focuses on presentations, keynote speeches, seminars, and other educational contributions especially for or about women in sport. Voelz currently serves as an ambassador and steward for

Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

’s Women's Sports Foundation. Voelz has served as Executive Director of the CWSA since 2012. Prior to that she served as the Leadership Gift Officer for the Women's Sports Foundation from 2001-2008. From 1988-2002 she served as one of the six separate Athletics Directors in the nation, at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Serving in that position she set attendance, academic, fundraising and performance records while building eight athletic facilities and adding three sports. Voelz has been inducted into three Halls of Fame; ''Sports Fitness Magazine'' named her one of the most influential people in sports in the nation; the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' named her #22 of the 100 Most Important Sports Figures of the Century in Minnesota. Voelz served as President of NACWAA (National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators) and in 2011 was honored by NACWAA with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Voelz was elected for the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force and was a co-author of the Gender Equity Definition advanced by NACWAA and adopted by NCAA. From 1978-88 Voelz served the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

as its Head Women’s Volleyball Coach and Associate Athletics Director. As a high school teacher and coach she coached volleyball, basketball and softball after having competed collegiately at Illinois State University in those three sports, as well as golf. She served as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Board for both Illinois State University and the state of Illinois. In November 2016, Voelz was award the Distinguished Alumni Award from

Community High School (West Chicago) Community High School, also known as West Chicago Community High School, WCCHS, or simply WE-GO, is a public four-year high school located in West Chicago, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the sole scho ...

for her work with securing a place for girls and women in competitive sports and co-authoring the NCAA Guidelines for Gender Equity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voelz, Chris Living people 1949 births American business executives University of Oregon people Place of birth missing (living people) Illinois State Redbirds softball players Illinois State Redbirds women's basketball players People from West Chicago, Illinois Illinois State Redbirds volleyball College women's volleyball players in the United States Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Oregon Ducks women's volleyball College women's volleyball coaches in the United States American volleyball coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Softball coaches from Illinois Basketball coaches from Illinois