January 15, 2025 - Northern Kentucky University honored former coach and longtime athletics director Jane Meier on Saturday, January 11th with the installment of a banners inside Truist Arena and Regents Hall, memorializing her contributions to Norse Athletics over her 31-year career.
Meier came to NKU in 1978 as the head women’s volleyball coach, and was later named head coach of both the softball and women’s basketball teams. She led the volleyball program to the NCAA Division II tournament in 1981 and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) championship in 1985—the first GLVC title in NKU history across all sports.
Meier was named athletics director in 1988, and lead NKU sports teams to tremendous success. Over her 21-year tenure, the Norse captured two NCAA Division II National Championships, 20 regional titles, 61 GLVC regular-season or tournament championships and 13 NCAA Division II Final Four appearances. Meier also transformed the landscape of NKU’s campus with the construction of four athletics facilities during her time as director, including what is now dubbed Truist Arena, the NKU Soccer Stadium, the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field and the Joyce E. Yeager Tennis Complex.
Meier’s success proved widely influential as she was selected to serve on a variety of regional and national NCAA committees including volleyball, basketball, nominating, DII President’s Council Media Advisory Group and the Executive Committee Membership Group. She was also bestowed numerous accolades throughout her career at NKU including Southeast Region Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 2003-04, 2004 DII Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) and 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner by Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA). She was also inducted into the David Lee Holt NKU Hall of Fame in 2011, the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2012 and the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2016, as well as the Villa Madonna Academy, Greater Cincinnati Basketball and Northern Kentucky High School Athletics Directors Halls of Fame.
Since her retirement in 2009, Jane Meier has enjoyed spending time with her husband, Steve, and their family.
NKU is proud to honor Meier for her outstanding contributions to the university over her more than three decades of service.
About Northern Kentucky University: NKU is an entrepreneurial state university of more than 15,000 students on a thriving suburban campus nestled between Highland Heights, Kentucky and bustling downtown Cincinnati. Ranked in the top 30 out of 500 universities nationwide by The Wall Street Journal for exceptional value, we are a regionally engaged university committed to delivering an innovative, student-centered education. We empower our graduates to have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives, while contributing to the economic, civic and social vitality of the region. For more information, visit nku.edu.
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Corey Best
Bestc6@nku.edu
(859)-572-1473
