CLEVELAND – The Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) is proud to announce Jean Lenti Ponsetto, former director of athletics at DePaul University, as the 2023 Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. 
 
"I am so humbled and honored to be in the company with so many of my heroes and icons in our profession," said Lenti Ponsetto. "My heartfelt gratitude to the entire selection committee for honoring my time in the profession with such high distinction as the Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you, thank you and more thank yous!"   
 
Following an illustrious 42-year career at DePaul University, Jean Lenti Ponsetto retired as one of the nation's most widely respected leaders in intercollegiate athletics and a driving force behind the unprecedented expansion and development of DePaul's athletics program. She began her athletics career as an assistant women's basketball coach and head softball coach after having been a four-sport student- athlete participating in basketball, tennis, softball and volleyball. She transitioned into athletics administration in 1982 and after years of working through the ranks was promoted to director of athletics in 2002. 
 
During Ponsetto's tenure, 14 of the 15 Blue Demon programs represented the school in 57 NCAA team championships as either conference champions or at-large selections along with 154 NCAA individual championships appearances – including 17-straight NCAA appearances by the women's basketball program and two trips to the Women's College World Series for the softball program. 
 
Under her leadership the Blue Demons garnered 80 NCAA APR Awards, 34 Academic All-Americans and led the BIG EAST in team Academic Excellence Awards and Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The Blue Demons' collective cumulative GPA annually was over 3.5. 

"We are excited to bestow our Association's most prestigious honor to Jeanne," stated Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award Committee Chair and Director of Athletics at Florida Gulf Coast University Ken Kavanagh. "Like our previous honorees, she certainly personifies what the award represents and fits in extremely well with the tremendous group of prior recipients. A valued contributor to the DI-AAA ADA's earliest development, Jeanne served our intercollegiate athletics profession with tremendous distinction for decades in a variety of roles. In turn, she positively impacted the countless DePaul student-athletes and staffers that she worked alongside daily, as well as the many others for whom she has been a terrific mentor and cherished colleague. No doub she left an incredible mark on the Blue Demons and is much deserving of this significant recognition."
 
She was responsible for fundraising and overseeing the design and development of nine athletics facilities projects including Wintrust Arena, the Sullivan Athletic Center, Wish Soccer Field, Cacciatore Softball Stadium, the John and Dale Melbourne Herklotz Letterwinners Plaza and Champions Courtyard, the Cherry Family Indoor Track, the outdoor track at Lane Stadium, the short game facility at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club and the indoor golf practice facility on DePaul's Lincoln Park campus. Prior to her retirement, she collaborated with university leadership, trustees and donors to put in motion the design and renovation of the Sullivan Athletic Center for basketball and volleyball while securing the first major gift for the construction of a new fieldhouse for all sports. In addition to fundraising for facilities and program support, athletics added 54 new scholarships for student-athletes. During her tenure as AD, Ponsetto and her leadership team regularly set revenue records while at the same time reducing the university's subsidy to athletics by 50 percent. 
 
Ponsetto served the intercollegiate athletics community with a combined 62 years of service highlighted by leadership roles, including vice chair of the NCAA Council and as Chairperson of the NCAA Championships Cabinet, the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee, the NCAA Women's Basketball Oversight Committee and Collegiate Women's Sports Awards (CWSA). She served as DI-AAA ADA President in 2009-10, as a NACDA Officer from 2017-20, and was set to take over as NACDA President prior to her retirement. 
 
Ponsetto has earned several awards for her outstanding work at DePaul and for her leadership serving the NCAA members and student-athletes. A two-time NACDA Athletics Director of the Year (20015-16 and 2008-09) and the DI-AAA ADA Builders' Award recipient in 2018, she is a member of the DePaul Athletic Hall of Fame, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Hall of Fame and the NACDA Hall of Fame. 

 
Members of the Gary Cunningham Lifetime Achievement Award Committee include Division I-AAA athletics directors: Ken Kavanagh (Chair), Florida Gulf Coast University; Scott Corley, Belmont University; Adrian Dowell, University of Nebraska Omaha; Shaney Fink, Seattle University; Bill Maher, Canisius College; Ed McLaughlin, VCU; Roderick Perry, IUPUI; Craig Pintens, Loyola Marymount University; Tanya Vogel, George Washington University; and Steve Watson, Loyola University Chicago.. 
 
About Division I-AAA ADA: Now in its 22nd year, the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association's mission is to enhance initiatives common to its Division I-AAA membership (the 98 Division I institutions that do not sponsor football), in particular, aspects related to their flagship basketball programs. For more information on the Division I-AAA ADA, please visit www.div1aaa-ada.com. The Division I-AAA ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 58th year. For more information on NACDA and the 18 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.