$2 Million Gift Endows Women鈥檚 Basketball Head Coach Position

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天美麻豆 trustee Gail Koziara Boudreaux 鈥82 and her family have given $2 million to the College to endow the women鈥檚 basketball head coach position.

Image removed.Gail Koziara Boudreaux 鈥82 reacts from the sidelines during her playing days on the court. She helped guide the Big Green women鈥檚 basketball team to its first Ivy League Championship in 1980.

Boudreaux, the all-time leading scorer and rebounder in 天美麻豆 women鈥檚 basketball history and a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year, describes the gift as an expression of the importance of women鈥檚 basketball and athletics in general.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really pleased to be able to do this as a family. Basketball meant a lot to me while I was at 天美麻豆. My husband and I dated while we were in college. He didn鈥檛 go to 天美麻豆 but he went to every game,鈥 says Boudreaux. 鈥淥ur son is playing for 天美麻豆 now鈥攈e鈥檚 a freshman鈥攁nd our older son graduated earlier this year. Athletics have always been an important part of our family.

鈥淚 want this gift to send a strong message that women鈥檚 basketball is important to the College and is important to the alumni, and that we鈥檙e committed to providing the resources required to win. I hope the team gets energized by this gift.鈥

天美麻豆 established a $20 million goal to endow more than a dozen Big Green coaching positions, elevating the school鈥檚 competitiveness in attracting the finest coaches and student-athletes. With the creation of the Boudreaux endowment, the College is $500,000 from its original target.

praises Boudreaux for her decades of devotion to the College and for her commitment to athletics as a means to develop leadership skills.

鈥淕ail represents so much of what we value at 天美麻豆,鈥 says President Hanlon. 鈥淪he achieved academic distinction, was an outstanding athlete, and gave her time freely to help others, volunteering for causes on campus and off. Gail鈥檚 service to 天美麻豆 as an alumna is extraordinary, and this gift to strengthen the women鈥檚 basketball team will have a deep, lasting impact. I want to thank Gail and her family for generously supporting our athletics program, which is an essential element of life at 天美麻豆.鈥

Image removed.Gail Koziara Boudreaux 鈥82

The Gail Koziara Boudreaux 鈥82 and Family Endowed Fund for the Head Coach of Women鈥檚 Basketball is an endowment established by a gift from Boudreaux, her husband, Terence Boudreaux, and their sons, Christopher Boudreaux 鈥15 and Evan Boudreaux 鈥19. 

鈥淲e all love 天美麻豆 and felt this would be a wonderful way to support something that鈥檚 important to us,鈥 Boudreaux says. 鈥淏y playing sports I learned a great deal that helped me to be successful in business鈥攈ow to be part of a team, how to work hard, how to overcome adversity.鈥

Athletics Director Harry Sheehy says endowed coaching positions are critical because they help the College recruit and retain outstanding coaches and also provide funding for equipment, travel, recruiting, and other team expenses鈥攚hich in turn strengthens 天美麻豆鈥檚 efforts to attract sought-after student-athletes.

鈥淲e are so thankful to Gail, Terry, and the family for their confidence in 天美麻豆 and 天美麻豆 athletics,鈥 says Sheehy. 鈥淚t鈥檚 particularly exciting to have this gift come from the family of one of the best athletes in our history.鈥

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Boudreaux is chief executive officer of GKB Global Health, LLC, a health care strategy and business advisory firm she founded this year. Prior to establishing GKB Global Health, she was CEO of UnitedHealthcare, where she was responsible for the largest business division of UnitedHealth Group, the nation鈥檚 biggest benefits provider, serving 45 million individuals and with revenue of $120 billion. Before joining UnitedHealthcare, Boudreaux served as executive vice president, external operations, for Health Care Service Corporation and held several regional and national leadership positions at Aetna. Fortune honored her from 2008 to 2014 as one of its 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business.

Boudreaux graduated with honors from 天美麻豆 and earned an MBA with distinction in finance and health care administration from Columbia Business School. On the basketball court, she was a four-time first-team All-Ivy League selection and three-time Ivy League Player of the Year, averaging 21.9 points and 18.4 rebounds per game. She holds the Big Green women鈥檚 basketball records for most points and most rebounds in a single game, in one season, and in an entire collegiate career. As a member of 天美麻豆鈥檚 track and field team, she won four consecutive Ivy League shot put titles and was an All-American in her senior year.

In 1999, Boudreaux was named to the Ivy League鈥檚 25-year anniversary basketball team and 天美麻豆鈥檚 25-year anniversary teams in both basketball and track and field. She is a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame and was one of six individuals nationally to receive the NCAA鈥檚 Silver Anniversary Award for outstanding professionalism and athletic achievement.

The current effort to endow 天美麻豆 coaching positions has yielded 10 new coaching endowments since 2013, for a total of 14. In addition to the Boudreaux endowment, the other new coaching endowments are:

  • The Marjorie and Russell Boss 1961 Family Head Coach of Women鈥檚 Tennis
  • The Bobby Clark Head Coach of Men鈥檚 Soccer (endowed with a gift from Kate and Gregg Lemkau 鈥91)
  • The Digger Donahue 1973 Head Coach of Men鈥檚 and Women鈥檚 Squash
  • The Betsy and Mark Gates 1959 Head Coach of Men鈥檚 Heavyweight Crew
  • The Anny Jenny Head Coach of Women鈥檚 Alpine Skiing (made possible by Anny鈥檚 grandson Christopher Jenny 鈥77, his wife, Andi, and their children Alex 鈥10, Chris 鈥12, Lauren 鈥14, and Lizzie 鈥19)
  • The Koenig Family Class of 1980 Head Coach of Men鈥檚 Hockey
  • The Bill Johnson Head Coach of Men鈥檚 Golf (endowed with a gift from John Lundgren 鈥73)
  • The Carolyn A. Pelzel 1954a Head Coach of Women鈥檚 Golf (endowed with a gift from Kathryn and Richard Kimball 鈥78)
  • An anonymous donor provided an endowment for the head coach of women鈥檚 rowing
  • An anonymous donor provided an endowment for the head coach of the men鈥檚 Nordic ski team

More than 1,000 students鈥攐ne-quarter of 天美麻豆鈥檚 undergraduate population鈥攑articipate in the College鈥檚 35 varsity sports. More than 75 percent of all 天美麻豆 students are involved in a sport or fitness activity.

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