Stewart Wins Trailblazer Award

June Stewart, who worked in the Vanderbilt University sports information office from 1973 until her retirement in 2000, has been selected to receive the 2003 Trailblazer Award from the College Sports Information Directors of America. The award goes annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA. Stewart will be presented the award at the group's Workshop in Cleveland, Ohio, Tuesday, July 1, at a noon brunch. Stewart began her career in the Vanderbilt sports information office in 1973 and was named assistant SID in 1977. From 1979-90, she served as Vanderbilt's women's sports information director. In 1990, Stewart was promoted to women's sports program director and assistant athletics director for future revenue sports. In 1993, Stewart was named associate athletics director at Vanderbilt and remained in that position until her retirement from the university. She was the first woman at Vanderbilt to serve as assistant SID for men's sports, and was a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee from 1990-96. Stewart served as president of CoSIDA in 1990-91 and was the first and, thus far, only female president in the organization's history. She was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in 1997. Stewart received the CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 after decades of work for CoSIDA, including being an instrumental part of bringing the national workshop to Nashville, Tenn., in 1986. In 1991, Stewart received the Reese L. Smith Jr., Nashville Area Athletic Club Achievement & Community Service Award. In 1997, she served as president of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Board, and was the first female ever in the officer rotation for that organization. Last year, Stewart and her late husband, Bill, received the Volunteers of the Year Award from the Nashville Sports Council. Stewart retired from Vanderbilt in 2000, but currently assists with the creation of a Vanderbilt women's basketball alumni group that will honor the tradition and strengthen the relationships developed by that program.