Honouring 2023 Lifetime Achievement Inductee, Karen Danylchuk

By W. James (Jim) Weese, former Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences

I've known and admired Karen Danylchuk for more than 35 years, and I could not be happier to see her honored by the Western Mustang Athletics Association with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. I cannot think of a more deserving recipient. 

Karen’s accomplishments as a student-athlete, coach, administrator, and sport management scholar and leader are widely known and internationally acclaimed. She has earned a host of distinguished awards throughout her long and successful career, including several coaching and administrative awards from Ontario University Athletics (OUA), and an array of prestigious competitive leadership and service awards from the Sport Management Academy. Notably, she has been inducted into two sports hall of fames including McMaster University’s in 2006 as a tennis and squash athlete, and Western’s in 2014 for her role as a coach, sports administrator, and athletic alumni volunteer.

Karen is a natural and gifted leader. She has held several leadership roles, including President of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), and as Founding President at the World Association for Sport Management (WASM). Her leadership and significant contributions to these organizations have been recognized in numerous ways. She received NASSM’s highest honour, the Dr. Earle F. Zeigler Award, for her contributions to sport management teaching, research, and service, and the Dr. Garth Paton Distinguished Service Award from NASSM. She also received a NASSM research fellowship for her distinguished research accomplishments. 

Throughout her career, Karen has been a tireless advocate and effective champion for women's sports and for the role of athletics in higher education. She has been a role model and trusted mentor to many students and young colleagues who aspire to follow in her footsteps. She's been an active graduate student supervisor who has provided direct support and leadership to more than 180 graduate students, including support to 42 doctoral students. 

Karen has made a difference in the field and at Western. She has provided strong and effective leadership in the classroom, in her program of research, and to the administrative offices that she has held, including serving as the Coordinator of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and as Acting Director of the School of Kinesiology. I am honoured to call her a friend and colleague and delighted to see her recognized with this prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award that she so richly deserves.