LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 29, 2007) — After 31 years at Florida Southern College, Lois Webb soon will be trading her many coaching hats and administrative leadership roles for her golf shoes.  FSC President Dr. Anne Kerr announced to the school’s Board of Trustees Oct. 26 that the woman who has devoted half of her life to Florida Southern College athletics will officially retire at the end of June 2008.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Kerr for her continuous support of my leadership role in the athletic department,” Webb stated. “I have been blessed to have been surrounded by a loyal and devoted coaching and administrative staff that strives for excellence each and every day.

“The essence of what I have accomplished as a professional administrator is predicated on the people with whom I work and serve,” she added.  “I will forever have fond memories of many exciting sporting moments, a network of many, many friends and professional colleagues, and most importantly, the knowledge that I have had a part to play in the development of many young people who now are leading productive lives.”

“Lois Webb has made a powerful contribution to the success of Florida Southern College through her outstanding leadership positions,” said Kerr, who has been president for the last three years of Webb’s tenure.  “I admire her integrity, dedication, competitive spirit, and expert managerial skills.  She is nationally recognized for building a model scholar-athlete program at Florida Southern, while also directing one of the strongest competitive Division II programs in the nation.  Lois leaves an outstanding legacy and firm foundation for the next athletic director to build upon.  We wish her great blessings during this next stage of her life.”

In her seventh year as athletics director at FSC, Webb has presided over three NCAA championship teams (women’s golf in 2002 and 2007, baseball in 2005), extending the school’s impressive total of national championships to 26.  FSC has had eight other teams produce top ten NCAA finishes during her tenure.  In October Webb was awarded the 2007 NCAA Division II Administrator of the Year Award from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA).  The award is
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presented annually to NACWAA members who have made significant contributions as administrators of intercollegiate athletics. 

Webb has been making significant contributions to the college for 31 years, as a coach, an administrator and faculty member.  She has been a valuable leader at FSC since 1977, when she began a 24-year coaching career in volleyball that produced 24 consecutive winning seasons and 747 career victories.  She also coached the women’s basketball team to a winning record through five seasons and the women’s golf team for two winning seasons, while serving as FSC’s senior woman administrator from 1981 through 2001.

Webb took her volleyball teams to four consecutive AIAW national tournaments, and then made 16 NCAA tournament appearances, finishing fourth in 1981, 1989 and 1991 and fifth in 1990.  She led the Moccasins to eight Sunshine State Conference volleyball titles.  Five times she was named SSC Coach of the Year and three times she was NCAA South Region Coach of the Year.  During her tenure, 18 Moccasin volleyball players received All-America recognition.

At the same time she was directing the volleyball team to national prominence, she coached the women’s basketball team to a 49-48 record during the program’s first five years and won the inaugural SSC women’s basketball championship in 1982.

An avid golfer herself, Webb was charged in 1995 with starting the women’s golf program at FSC and it quickly became one of the best in the nation.  She led the 1995-96 team to a fourth-place national finish in its first season and sent three individuals to the national championship tournament the following season.  Her first recruit was Shanna Nagy, who became a four-time All-American, two-time NCAA champion and a member of the SSC and FSC Halls of Fame.

In the 2006-07 school year, Florida Southern enjoyed one of its most successful campaigns ever under Webb’s direction.  Four of its athletic teams earned top-five finishes at their respective NCAA championship events.  The women’s golf team won the Division II championship, its fourth; the men’s golf team placed third; the softball team placed fourth; and the women’s tennis team tied for fifth.  That allowed FSC to register a tenth-place finish in the final NCAA Division II Directors Cup point standings, the best finish among the nine Sunshine State Conference schools.

In the SSC in 2006-07, Florida Southern captured five league championships: men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball (co-champion), softball and women’s golf – more than any other league school.  The
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Moccasins also had more SSC Coaches of the Year (four) and more SSC Athletes of the Year (five) than any other league school.  Those performances helped FSC claim the SSC Women’s Mayors’ Cup for the 10th time in the program’s history, while the FSC men were second in the Men’s Mayors’ Cup standings.

Webb is a member of four different halls of fame.  She was inducted as a charter member of the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Florida Southern Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.  In 2003 she became a charter member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and in 2004 she was selected to the Polk County Sports Hall of Fame.

Kerr said the process for selecting Webb’s successor will begin in the spring.

About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is a private, comprehensive United Methodist-affiliated college with a liberal arts core. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 46 undergraduate majors and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, and nursing. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student/faculty ratio; is a national leader in engaged learning; and boasts 26 NCAA Division II national championships. It is ranked in the Top 5 “Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the South” by U.S. News & World Report and is included in The Princeton Review’s “366 Best Colleges” guide. The College is committed to the development of the whole student through vibrant student life programs that prepare graduates to make a positive, consequential impact on society. Located on scenic Lake Hollingsworth, Florida Southern is home to the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture.