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CSC Achievement Award
Voted upon by the CSC Special Awards Committee, the CSC Achievement Awards are presented annually to one University Division member and one College Division member who have made outstanding contributions to the field of athletic communications and provided exceptional service to their institution, conference or other intercollegiate athletics affiliated association. A nominee must have 10 or more years of experience in the athletic communications field and must not have served in the lead role overseeing an athletic communications office. This award is designed for an individual who has not been a recipient of any CSC major award in their careers (such as Warren Berg, Arch Ward or Hall of Fame).
Heather Brown – Ohio Valley Conference Former Director of Communications (posthumous honor)
CSC Achievement Award - University Division
The 2024 CSC Achievement Awards, honoring excellence among professionals who have been career-long assistants, are being awarded to the late Brown, former director of communications for the Ohio Valley Conference (University Division) and
Patrick Rydeen, associate director of communications at Concordia University, St. Paul (College Division).
The conference’s longest-tenured full-time staff member,
Brown passed away seven months ago (in October 2023) after a 16-month battle with breast cancer.
In another special posthumous honor, Brown will be inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame on May 31. She will be one of only 98 inducted since the OVC Hall of Fame began in 1977, and just the fifth person who worked at the conference office to be inducted.
During her 20-year career, Brown delighted in shining that light on the Ohio Valley Conference’s teams and student-athletes.
She spent almost her entire athletic communications career in the OVC office, starting as an intern in 2003 before being hired as assistant director for media relations. Promoted to director of media relations in 2006, Brown's title changed to director of communications in 2016.
Brown was the media coordinator for the OVC Softball Championships and the assistant media coordinator for the OVC’s Basketball and Baseball Championships, which included serving as the official photographer for the OVC baseball tourney. In 2013, she was instrumental in the planning and execution of the OVC’s Title IX Celebration Luncheon, which honored Title IX pioneers from each of the conference’s 12 member institutions.
A 2003 graduate of Bowling Green State University, Heather spent one year as a student assistant in the sports information office at her alma mater. She also served a three-month internship in the sports information office at The Ohio State University before joining the OVC staff.
Gallery: (4-19-2024) Heather Brown, Achievement Award
Beth DeBauche, Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Commissioner –
"Heather’s love for the OVC and its student-athletes was evident in her outstanding work and many contributions to the league. She was a beloved staff member with a caring heart who is dearly missed by her OVC family."
Kyle Schwartz, OVC Associate Commissioner for Strategic Communications – "The work mattered to Heather and she loved doing it. There was never talk of it being a ‘job’ … it was a career she did to the fullest, even when the hours were long. She was a remarkable co-worker and an even better friend I’m glad to have had in my life."
