The College Sports Information Directors of America have selected Joyce Aschenbrenner of The V Foundation as their 2004 recipient of the Trailblazer Award. She will be presented the award at the organization's annual workshop, to be held this year in Calgary, Alberta.
The Trailblazer Award is presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.
Aschenbrenner was the assistant athletics director at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1982 through 1990. Following a career that spanned more than 20 years in collegiate athletics administration, she joined the staff of The V Foundation for Cancer Research in November 2001 as the director of marketing and communications and is currently Foundation Vice President.
In the early stages of her career, she was one of the few women working in sports information with a major football program at the University of Pittsburgh. While there, she assisted in the publicity and promotion of future NFL stars Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett.
While the assistant athletics director for communications at UNLV, Aschenbrenner was involved in not only the sports information office, but was part of the team that created all the pregame excitement at Rebels basketball, including light shows, red-carpet entrances and indoor fireworks. Many of these elements are currently used by other sports organizations.
Aschenbrenner then moved on to the University of Colorado, where she was the associate athletics director for external affairs and senior women's administrator. During that time, she also worked as a liaison to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Following her time in Boulder, she served a three-year term on the Defense Advisory Commission for Women in the Services for the Department of Defense.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Nevada Special Olympics and was director of the Nevada Summer Games.
Since joining The V Foundation for Cancer Research, she has been a key driver of The V Foundation Comeback Award and the Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic.
In the nomination of Aschenbrenner for the Trailblazer Award, colleagues noted her paving the means for women in sports information through her professionalism, passion and respect by the media.
A graduate of the West Virginia University School of Journalism, Aschenbrenner oversees the areas of communications and public relations, marketing, events and special projects for The V Foundation.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., she was inducted into the Brentwood High School Hall of Fame in 2002.
She has been a cancer survivor since 1998.