Janice Todd (''née'' Suffolk; born May 22, 1952) is a Professor and Interim Department Chair (starting August, 2022) in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at

The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. Todd is a member of the Sport Management faculty, and teaches classes in sport history, sport philosophy, and sport and ethics. An active lecturer, Todd was named the Seward Staley Honor Lecturer for the North American Society for Sport History in 2008.

Dinnie Stones

Janice Todd is perhaps best known outside the powerlifting community for being the first woman ever to successfully lift the

Dinnie Stones The Dinnie Stones (also called Stanes or Steens) are a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire. They were made famous by strongman Donald Dinnie, who reportedly carried the stones barehanded across the width of the Pota ...

in 1979. This feat was not replicated again until 2018, by Leigh Holland-Keen.

Powerlifting career

Todd’s interest in the study of sport and physical culture was galvanized by her participation and success in the sport of

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

. During her powerlifting career, many publications—including ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' magazine – considered her to be the strongest woman in the world. As a powerlifter, Todd set more than 60 national and world records, and was included in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' for over a decade. On 2 February 1978 she appeared on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'', performing several lifts along with

Johnny Carson John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (1962–1992). Carson received six Pr ...

. Todd was the first woman inducted into the International Powerlifting Hall of Fame. She was inducted in the first class of the Women’s Powerlifting Hall of Fame, and the 2009 class of the US

National Fitness Hall of Fame National Fitness Hall of Fame is an American hall of fame for notable fitness professionals. It includes notable figures involved in fitness instruction, training, education, fitness management and product development. The mission is to recognize ...

. She also received the 2008 Oscar Heidenstam Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award
World Record-Holding Powerlifters, Scholars Win Lifetime Achievement Award" for her contributions in the field of physical fitness.

Later years

Todd also serves as co-editor of ''Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture'', a scholarly journal for the history of physical culture. In addition, she has written numerous articles on topics such as sport and exercise history, anabolic steroids, and strength training as well as two books: ''Physical Culture and the Body Beautiful: Purposive Exercise in the Lives of American Women'' (Mercer University Press, 1998), and ''Lift Your Way to Youthful Fitness'' ( Little, Brown and Company, Little-Brown, 1985). With her husband,

Terry Todd Terry Todd (December 31, 1937 – July 7, 2018) was an American powerlifter, and Olympic weightlifting, Olympic weightlifter. Todd was co-founder of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, co-editor oIron Game Hi ...

, Jan Todd founded the

H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is a library, archive and museum dedicated to the study and pres ...

. The Stark Center, which opened in a new facility in the fall of 2009, contains museum exhibits as well as a research library and the largest archive in the world devoted to the study of physical fitness, resistance training, and alternative medicine.

References

External links

* H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sport

{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Jan 1952 births American educators Living people People associated with physical culture