Sharon McCloskey honored with emerita status
Sharon McCloskey, senior associate athletics director at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of “senior associate athletics director emerita” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the board by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1984, McCloskey served as support and senior advisor to three directors of athletics -- Dave Braine, Jim Weaver, and Whit Babcock.
In 1988, she became the first woman in Division I college athletics to hold the position of recruiting coordinator, and was also named the senior woman administrator that same year.
As recruiting coordinator, McCloskey proved to be one of the most innovative people in the field. She completely reorganized the schedule for official recruiting visits by making academics the highlight of the visit. All aspects of university life were included in the visit for the prospective student-athlete.
In 1992, McCloskey became an assistant athletics director and became senior associate athletics director in 1995. Following Braine’s departure in 1997, she became interim athletic director until Weaver was hired, and she again served as interim athletic director following Jim Weaver’s retirement until the university hired Whit Babcock in 2014.
McCloskey has served on a number of Atlantic Coast Conference-related committees, including all women’s basketball committees and the women’s soccer committee.
In 2012, McCloskey was inducted into Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. Earlier this year, the Athletics Department announced the creation of the Sharon McCloskey Student-Athlete Endowed Scholarship that will support undergraduate student-athletes participating in women’s athletics programs.
A native of Falls Church, Virginia, McCloskey received a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
