The Anita Aldrich Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually to a graduate of the School of Public Health-Bloomington and its prior incarnation as Health, Physical Education, and Recreation who has made significant contributions to the body of work in public health science. Furthermore, the award recognizes career achievements to promote the success of girls and women in public health education and science. The award is named in honor of Dr. Anita Aldrich, who served on the faculty of the school from 1964 to 1985. In 1975–76, she served as acting dean of the school. She was widely recognized as an educational pioneer and champion for the cause of women in higher education, and athletics.
Honoring alumni who work to improve the health of women and girls
2024 recipients
Janet Simon, Ph.D. is an associate professor and associate dean for research in the Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions. Dr. Simon earned a 2008 bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Southern Connecticut State University, a 2010 master’s degree in athletic training from Ohio University, and both a master’s degree in applied statistics and Ph.D. in human performance from Indiana University in 2014. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and treatment of musculoskeletal impairments due to injury, aging, and metabolic disease. Dr. Simon has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in various public health, sports medicine, and orthopedic journals and has been principal investigator or co-investigator on several initiatives funded by the Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health.
Past recipients
Dr. Elizabeth Gregg earned an M.S. in kinesiology and Ph.D. in human performance from SPH-B. A professor in the University of North Florida’s Department of Leadership, School Counseling, and Sport Management, she also leads the Institute for Justice, Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity, & Equity. Dr. Gregg’s research focuses on the advancement of women in athletics and higher education. She has published and presented on topics spanning Title IX, diversity in sport, pay inequity, and the experience of student-athletes. Her work on the status of female student-athletes is intimately connected with her work in intercollegiate athletics and leadership development. She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as The American Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Education Journal, the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport, and the International Journal of Sport Communication.
Dr. Gregg credits educators, including those in her own family, for shaping her core values. She became an educator to give back to society and help young people improve their overall well-being and societal standing. She has dozens of publications to her credit, including Branding in Higher Education: Every University Tells a Story, released by Carolina Academic Press in 2021. While studying at IU, Dr. Gregg received the Ruth Engs Fellowship for Doctoral Research.
Dr. Mindy Hartman Mayol is an associate professor of exercise science at the University of Indianapolis. She earned her B.S. and M.S. from SPH-B and a Ph.D. in health and rehabilitation sciences from IUPUI.
Throughout her career, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in multi-dimensional wellness; sport, health, and exercise behavior; research methods and design; and health and wellness coaching.
Her research interests include sport motivation, exercise programming and management, corporate fitness and wellness, and behavioral return-to-play factors in collegiate athletes. An exercise physiologist for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), she and her students—more than 75% of them women—have presented research at the ACSM Midwest and national meetings.
Dr. Mayol served as an associate editor for ACSM’s Resources for the Personal Trainer, 5th Ed. (2017). The third edition of her textbook Wellness: The Total Package was published in 2019. In addition, Dr. Mayol was among three scholars who created the 45-item Multi-Dimensional Wellness Inventory and published their first validation study findings in the American Journal of Health Education (2017). This tool has been adopted by institutions nationwide for use in their undergraduate wellness courses. She received the 2021 (student-nominated) UIndy Inspire Award, 2014 UIndy Faculty Achievement Award, and the 2010 Indiana AHPERD (now INSHAPE) Recreation Professional/Leisure Educator of the Year Award.
Dr. Tania B. Basta holds two degrees from the School of Public Health-Bloomington, including a B.S. in Kinesiology, and an MPH in Public Health. She received her PhD from the University of Georgia in 2006 and currently serves as the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Western Kentucky University.
Dean Basta, previously served as Chair of the Department of Social and Public Health for the College of Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University and has been committed to excellence in research, academics, and community engagement. Her research interests have included rural public health, sexual health, and infectious disease prevention.
During her time at Ohio University Dean Basta was a faculty member serving in various capacities including an Associate Professor in Department of Social and Public Health where she was later promoted to Full Professor. She also served as Interim Chair in 2016-17 and was selected as Chair in 2017 after a national search. Additionally, Dean Basta was an Assistant Professor of Community Health Services in the School of Public Health Sciences and Professions and served as a faculty member of Communication and Development Studies, affiliated faculty in African Studies Program and Latin American Studies, and associate director and affiliated researcher for the Appalachian Rural Health Institute.
Dean Basta resides in Bowling Green, Kentucky with her Husband, Daniel, who also holds a degree from the School of Public Health-Bloomington, and their two children.
As an athletic administrator, Elaine Hieber was fiercely committed to gender equity and the fair treatment of all student-athletes. After teaching at the high school level for 5 years, Ms. Hieber was appointed as the first female assistant athletic director at Miami University (Ohio). She oversaw 12 sports, coaching six of them herself. In recognition of her groundbreaking work, she was inducted into the Miami University Hall of Fame and the Miami Cradle of Coaches.
Recruited by Iowa State University (ISU) to help merge its men and women’s athletics programs, she remained staunchly committed to advocating fair, respectful and equal treatment for all. She represented ISU on many Big 12 committees and was active at the national level, serving on the Division I Women’s Basketball (WBB) Committee and Nantional Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Marketing Committee, as well as chairing the NCAA WBB Rules Committee. For her many contributions to ISU athletics, she was inducted into the ISU Hall of Fame. She also received national recognition when she was named as the National Association of College Women Administrators’ Administrator of the Year.
In recognition of her contributions to the university community, she received many honors including the Professional Excellence, Carrie Chapman Catt Gender Equity and Presidential Service awards. After retirement, she was named as an Honorary ISU Alum.
Ms. Hieber delighted in providing leadership directed toward creating athletic opportunities for people with mental and physical disabilities. She served as a director and president of Iowa Special Olympics and was the chair of the first-ever Special Olympics USA National Games.
Ellen Lucey graduated from the Indiana University School of Public Health with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology in 1994. She was known for her competitive spirit and desire to bring people together while serving as captain of the IU swim team.
After moving into her first of three positions with the Coca-Cola Company, she began work as a Super Bowl host. As senior manager, she took on the challenge of connecting NASCAR fans with a new Coca-Cola experience.
She soon found herself standing backstage with a soon-to-be NBA All-Star. Before he had even played his first NBA game, she recruited LeBron James as the spokesperson for Sprite and POWERade. For the next 10 years, she and LeBron James transformed the Sprite brand with their winning combination of skill and swagger.
These experiences have brought her full circle back to collegiate athletics in her current role as Director of Corporate Relations with the NCAA where she oversees sponsorships, partnerships, marketing, and branding for all NCAA Championships. Now, in her “dream job,” she gets to combine two of her passions, sports marketing and college athletics.
Carol Hutchins is in her 35th season at the helm of the University of Michigan softball program. As the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, Hutchins has guided the Wolverines to an NCAA title and 20 Big Ten Conference titles. She has solidified Michigan among the top softball programs in the country, and is the winningest coach – male or female – in Michigan Athletics history. In 2006, "Hutch" was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame and holds more wins than any other coach – in any division – in NCAA softball history.
Hutchins joined the Michigan softball family in 1983 as an assistant coach under Bob De Carolis. She became the head coach in 1985 and under her direction, Michigan sofball has never suffered a losing season in its program history. In 2005, Hutchins was selected to be included in a pool of coaches for USA Softball's Summer Tour. She was appointed head coach for the Elite Team at the Canada Cup and was an assistant coach for the National Team at the Japan Cup. Hutchins has earned 17 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year honors, nine NFCA Regional Coach of the Year awards and a pair of NFCA National Coach of the Year honors. As an undergraduate at Michigan, Hutchins participated in basketball and softball. She helped lead the Spartans to a 1976 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for the Women's National Softball Championship. In 2003, she was awarded the Nell Jackson Award, considered the highest honor the Michigan State Varsity "S" Club can give a female alumna for professional accomplishments and community service. She was also inducted into the Greater Lansing Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
Robin S. Vealey, M.S.'77 is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health at Miami University in Ohio. She teaches courses in sport psychology, coaching effectiveness, and children in sport, and focuses her research on self-confidence, burnout, mental skills training, and coaching effectiveness.
Dr. Vealey has received multiple teaching and graduate mentoring awards during her career. She has authored three books—Best Practice in Youth Sport, Coaching for the Inner Edge, and Competitive Anxiety in Sport. Additionally, she has published over 60 articles and book chapters in sport psychology, and made over 200 scholarly and applied presentations to regional, national, and international audiences, including multiple invited international keynote presentations.
Dr. Vealey is a fellow, certified consultant, and past president of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology and former editor of The Sport Psychologist. She is also a fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology and a member of the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry.
She has served as a sport psychology consultant for the U.S. Nordic Ski Team, U.S. Field Hockey, elite golfers, and athletes and teams at Miami University. A former collegiate basketball player and coach, she now enjoys the mental challenge of golf.
Mary Schutten completed her P.E.D. in motor control and health education at Indiana University in 1994 and took the position of associate professor and volleyball and women's swim coach at Calvin College. During this time she also served as a department chairperson and oversaw the first strategic plan and assessment program.
Currently, she is a professor and associate dean for students and curriculum, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at Grand Valley State University.
Her academic career has been spent teaching mainly undergraduate classes in motor learning, physical education methods, school health education methods, and program planning and evaluation. She has published several manuscripts on topics related to program planning, peer education programming, coaching, and the link between academic achievement and physical fitness levels.
She received the American Association for Health Education (AAHE) College/University Health Education Specialist Award in 2011 and the University Health Educator of the Year, Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD) in 2009.
Dr. Schutten has served as the coordinator of the school health education program at GVSU for the past ten years and is currently serving on the editorial board of the journal Michigan Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and on the associate dean committee for the Council for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). She is also a mentor to new faculty in the department of Movement Science and for new associate deans for CCAS.
Professor Emeritus Kathleen Cordes served as a college/university professor, chair, coach, and director. As a teacher of teachers, author of 14 books, reporter, and commentator, she empowered many of her students to teach wholesome physical activity and encouraged others to participate.
For her teaching, leadership, and administrative efforts, Cordes is a recipient of the national, district, and state American Alliance of Health, Physical Education Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Honor Awards. For her authorship of textbooks and other work in recreation, she received national and state awards for Distinguished Service to Recreation and was elected American Leisure Academy Senior Fellow.
During her career, Ms. Cordes was one of the first female directors of men's and women's athletics in the country, the first female varsity coach at the University of Notre Dame, and the first athletic director of Saint Mary's College. Her impact on college curriculums as department chair at Whittier and Miramar colleges in California and as district honors director for the San Diego Community College District drew respect nationally and internationally.
She was named in Who's Who in the World, America, American Women, Teaching, and International Dance. One of her college textbooks was translated into Chinese and she was a visiting professor during summers in Venezuela. Ms. Cordes also served as a reporter for the Olympic Arts in Los Angeles, as a commentator, and as news/sports director in Northern Arizona.
Finally, among her many duties as an executive director in Reston, Virginia for the American Association for Leisure and Recreation, she worked with the White House on America's trails. The National Park Service Trails Director wrote that her books are a "...gift that just might be in place for public enjoyment a thousand years from now!"
As a youngster, Jerry Wilkerson was always interested in sports, but given the nature and culture of the times, opportunities for organized sport participation among girls was virtually nonexistent. Upon receiving her physical education degree at Ohio University, she went on to teach and coach in the Batavia, Ohio, public schools from 1966 to 1969. While at Batavia, she completed a master's of science degree in physical education at the University of Cincinnati. Her first faculty appointment in higher education occurred at Youngstown State University, where she taught and served as the women's gymnastics coach, earning two national championships in 1973 and 1974. She continued her education by earning her doctorate in human performance from Indiana University in 1978, where she holds the distinction of being one of the first students ever to graduate from the university with a Ph.D. in this concentration area.
Dr. Wilkerson continued her career as a faculty member in biomechanics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, followed by an appointment as a faculty member and department administrator at Texas Women's University in Denton. She served multiple roles while at TWU until 2003, but most notably as the chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology during the final seven years of her tenure. In 2003, Dr. Wilkerson returned "home" to Indiana University as the executive associate dean at the School of Public Health.
Sandy Searcy has served as assistant commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association since 1999. At the national level, she has served on the NFHS National Student Leadership Planning Committee since 1999, and she is a member of the 2006–11 NFHS Gymnastics Rules Committee and the 2008–11 NFHS Softball Rules Committee.
Sandy began her high school coaching career in 1983 while still a sophomore at Indiana University, serving as the boys' swimming coach at Bloomington High School South. Sandy was named the girls' swimming coach at Bloomington High School North a year later in 1984, a position that she held for 15 years.
She also was the boys' swimming coach at North from 1986 to 1996. Her administrative career began in 1988 when she was named girls' athletic director at Bloomington North, and held that post through 1999, in addition to serving as a physical education teacher. During those years, she was an executive board member of the ICGSA (Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association) from 1991 to 1995, serving as president in 1997–98.
Sandy's devotion to elevate young women in sports through coaching and administration testifies to her outstanding leadership abilities that exemplify the ideals set forth in the Anita Aldrich Distinguished Alumni Award.
Sage Steele graduated from the Indiana University School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation in 1995 with a degree in sports communication. She joined ESPN in 2007 and is a co-host of ESPN's flagship show, SportsCenter. Most recently, Steele served as update host during live daytime SportsCenter editions, which debuted in August 2008. She also contributes to First Take and previously anchored SportsCenter updates on Mike & Mike in the Morning and has served as a guest co-host of ESPN2's SportsNation.
Steele began her television career at WSBT-TV (CBS) in South Bend, Indiana, as a producer and reporter, then worked at CBS affiliate WISH-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana, from 1997 to 1998 as the weekend morning sports anchor and weekday reporter. Her reporting duties included the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 auto races, and local college and high school sports.
Her career continued as she worked in Tampa, Florida, as a sports reporter with former WFTS sports director and current ESPN First Take host, Jay Crawford, and at Fox Sports Florida where she covered teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Orlando Magic, Tampa Bay Lightning, and University of South Florida Bulls.
She then worked at Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was an anchor and reporter for the network's nightly local sports news program, SportsNite. Sage was one of Comcast SportsNet's original personalities, joining the network when it launched in 2001. During her six years at CSN Mid-Atlantic (2001–07), she was a main anchor while simultaneously serving as the beat reporter for the Baltimore Ravens.
Judith Campbell, who was noted as one of the Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century ('84), was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, to the late O. H. Campbell and surviving Juanita Campbell, currently of Lakeland, Florida. During her childhood, Judith spent her summers working as a camp counselor in Indianapolis and Terre Haute. She was also a noted leader for the Girl Scout Council and Vigo County Association for Retarded Children.
Judith's many summers as a counselor pushed her toward pursuing a physical education path at Indiana State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in 1960, followed by a Master of Physical Education from Indiana University in 1963. Judith later returned to Indiana University to earn a Ph.D. in Physical Education in 1978.
Judith excelled in the classroom as a student as well as an educator. Judith worked for many decades as an educator. She has been entrusted with the minds of young adults from her time teaching in the St. Louis Public School System (1960–61) to her time as an instructor (1961–66), assistant professor (1968–75), associate professor (1975–78), and as a professor of physical education at Indiana State University.
In 1972, Campbell was selected to serve on the National Advisory Council for Special Olympics, Inc., and was appointed as regional director of Special Olympics over five states by the Kennedy Foundation. In 1970, she also co-founded Special Olympics Indiana, and has developed and designed physical education curriculum used in K-12 schools in Indiana.
Her awards and accolades are countless, and her dedication and lifelong contributions to the health and fitness of youth have influenced hundreds of thousands of young people.
Visionary, luminary, fearless pioneer. There is perhaps no better way to describe Joan S. Hult, the scholar, activist, and Indiana University alumna who helped chart the course of equality for women in intercollegiate sport.
As a faculty member at Concordia College in Morehead, Minnesota, Dr. Hult helped establish the Minn-Koda Women's Intercollegiate Conference, one of the few such conferences in its day.
She is widely recognized for her diligent behind-the-scenes work in Washington for the passage of Title IX and her comprehensive understanding of the history of women's basketball—not to mention her passion for the game—which made her perfectly suited to write her book, A Century of Women's Basketball: From Frailty to Final Four.
Professor emeriti from the University of Maryland and author of scores of articles and book chapters in her field, Dr. Hult received her B.S. from Indiana University in 1954, received her M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 1958, and in 1967 earned her doctorate from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Hult is also currently in the process of publishing a second book about the history of women's athletics, has served as a consultant to both HBO and ESPN, and is part owner of an athletic and sport consulting firm.
Dr. Jeannine Butler is a retired educator, administrator, and coach. A graduate of Indiana State University, she completed her master's degree and doctoral degree in physical education from Indiana University. During her career, she has served the community of Bloomington in many capacities, but most notably she has contributed significantly to the youth of the community.
She began her educational career 50 years ago as a teacher and coach at Adams Township High School (Indiana) when females were relegated to intramural sports. Dr. Butler served as one of Monroe County Community School Corporation's (MCCSC) first female administrators and high school girls' basketball, volleyball, and track coaches. She was recognized as "Coach of the Year" in 1979. In 2006, she was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Her teaching and coaching career covered a 38-year span, of which 26 were dedicated to high school and college coaching with only four losing seasons.
Dr. Butler has also served the community in many other areas such as the Youth Service Bureau of Monroe County, Bloomington Restorations, Inc., Options for Better Living, Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission, and Community Corrections Board. During her career as an educator and into retirement, she served on the MCCSC Strategic Planning Committee, Indiana School Board Association, and Community Study Groups. She served as Dean of Students and as a student teaching supervisor. Dr. Butler was recently elected to the MCCSC school board.
She has been recognized for the encouragement she has provided to thousands of young men and women throughout her career in education, changing lives and helping young people improve themselves.
She was the 2005 Lifetime Contribution Award recipient for changing lives through her devotion to helping people. She has been acknowledged as a woman who has changed the world.
Peggy Martin has the most career wins of any volleyball coach on the NCAA Division II level.
Her 1004–267 record makes her the first coach to reach the 1000 victory plateau. Under Martin's guidance, the University of Central Missouri Jennies have won at least 25 matches for 28 straight years and hold the record for NCAA tournament appearances at 24 straight. Her teams have reached the Elite Eight six times, highlighted by a runner-up national showing in 1987.
For her efforts, Martin has been named MIAA Coach of the Year on 15 occasions, Regional Coach of the Year on six occasions and National Coach of the Year in 1987. Martin came to Central Missouri as both the volleyball and softball coach. In 11 years as softball coach she led the Jennies to two softball MIAA titles and was named Coach of the Year twice. She has coached 22 All Americans and graduated all players who have completed their eligibility at UCM. Her team's current GPA is over a 3.5.
Martin was a standout athlete at Mercy High School in Mobile, where she competed in basketball and volleyball in the CYO leagues. She was president of her junior class and Student Council president her senior year. She chose to attend Indiana University, where she played basketball, softball, and field hockey. She was captain of the basketball team for three years and led the team to the national tournament her junior and senior years. At IU, she served as president of the Women's Recreation Association, received the school's alumni scholarship, and served on the IU Student Foundation.
She graduated from IU in 1972. Martin earned her master's degree at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 1974 and returned to her alma mater to earn her doctorate in 1980. She has authored a best-selling volleyball drills book, and produced four instructional videos.
Buffy G. Filippell, 2006 recipient of the National Girls and Women in Sport Alumni Achievement Award, founded TeamWork Consulting, Inc., an executive search firm for the sports and event management industry, in September of 1987. The firm's more than 120 clients have included, among others, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, almost all the major leagues (12 NFL teams, 11 NHL teams, 12 NBA teams, nine MLB teams), CART, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, International Speedway Corporation, Major League Soccer, Olympic Governing Bodies, corporate sponsors, and sports marketing agencies.
In 1999, she also developed the first online employment recruiting tool for sports teams and leagues—TeamWork Online—which has grown from ten licenses to 25. Both TeamWork Online and TeamWork Consulting are licensed by the Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Lightning/St. Pete Times Forum, Charlotte Bobcats, Memphis Grizzlies/FedEx Forum, Portland Trail Blazers, AEG/STAPLES Center, Comcast-Spectacor/Global Spectrum, Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, Palace Sports & Entertainment, NFL teams, NHL league and member clubs, MLB teams, MLS league and its teams, Arena Football League/af2 League and teams, NBA/WNBA/D-League teams, Pacific Coast League, ECHL, ATP and WTA TOUR and tournaments, Mandalay Sports Entertainment, U.S. National Governing Bodies, and International Speedway Corporation.
Filippell served in executive positions in both sporting goods and sports marketing concerns. Early positions as manager of racquet sports and golf promotions (London-based) and national tennis promotions assistant at Wilson Sporting Goods led to an account executive post at Mark McCormack's International Management Group (IMG) in Cleveland. Filippell represented professional athletes such as Andrea Jaeger and Ken Rosewall, promoted IMG's tennis legends and Charlton Heston's Pro Celebrity Tennis Tournament and served as the commissioner of the Women's Professional Racquetball Tour.
After returning from a year in Turin, Italy, in January 1985, Filippell joined Korn/Ferry International, a worldwide executive recruiting firm. Although she worked on searches for senior executives in banking, manufacturing, insurance, and industrial products, Filippell brought in and conducted searches for the Women's Tennis Association, LPGA, U.S. Cycling Federation, Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association, Prince, and the Women's International Pro Tennis Council.
Filippell currently serves as a senior advisory board member for Indiana University's Kelley School of Business Sports and Entertainment Academy. In 1987, she founded the Ohio Games (earlier called the Ohio Sports Festival), a statewide amateur Olympic-type event for athletes of all ages in the state of Ohio. She also served on the Executive Committee of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission until 1999. She was formerly a trustee on the Board of the Women's Sports Foundation and co-published the first Directory of Women in Sports Business with Richard Lipsey.
Filippell received a Bachelor of Science degree and a varsity letter in tennis in 1976 from Indiana University Bloomington. She and her husband, Mark, have a son, Davis.
Mildred Ball (BS'60) was almost not admitted to Indiana University. After briefly attending the Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Virginia, she moved back home to Gary, working to save money for a transfer to IU. But when her family fell on hard times, she used her earnings to support them, leaving her with just $100 for college.
Unwilling to delay her education, Ball headed to IU anyway, a day after classes had started, and with no transcript (Hampton would not release them until she paid a final bill, something she could not do at the time). The man at the registrar's office said Ball could not be admitted without her transcript. The two argued back and forth until the young man saw John Endwright, then the assistant dean of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER), and asked him to come over and tell the girl she was wasting her time.
Before the dean could open his mouth, Ball looked at him and said, "Sir, I have a brother at University of Washington, a brother at Iowa State Teachers College, a sister at Los Angeles State College, and a brother here at Indiana University. I want to go to school, too." He looked at me and said, "Let her in," and walked off.
Ball soon became a straight-A student, eventually being hired as a dance instructor in the school. She put herself through school, living in a cooperative dorm and working several part-time jobs. When the art school was looking for models, Ball sat before students in her bathing suit for $1.50 an hour (she was not brave enough to "bare all" for $3.00 an hour). She and other models spent many hours posing for then-IU Professor Robert Laurent as he worked on an elaborate structure made of chicken wire. Ball forgot about the project until more than eight years later, when she saw the final result: the Showalter Fountain in front of the IU Auditorium. "I said, 'My god, that's it!' It was like hell trying to balance for that sculpture, but it was fun."
After graduation, Ball taught high school for 17 years, followed by 10 years as supervisor and coordinator of the Student Park Workers Neighborhood Youth Corp in East Chicago. She then spent 20 years as assistant commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
Ball has received awards from the National Federation of State High School Associations, the Indiana Association of Athletic Officials, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and the NAACP (Benjamin Hooks award). She received the school's John Endwright Alumni Service Award in 1997.
Ball was one of the co-founders of the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club and has served in many capacities with both the School of Public Health and the IU Alumni Association, including the IUAA Executive Council. She also has a Master of Science degree in Secondary Education from Purdue University.