The championship-caliber leadership Nancy Paris Simpson (77C) displayed on the basketball court at Berry translated into a distinguished 38-year career guiding teams and shaping intercollegiate athletic programs. She counts her success as a "privilege and honor" of investing in student-athletes.
At 6'2, Nancy turned in an All-America performance for Berry women's basketball, leading her teammates to claim the 1976 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women small-college championship. It was Berry's first national title in any sport and the state of Georgia's first in women's basketball at any level of college play. She was tournament MVP.
Nancy entered coaching at the University of Southern Mississippi as an assistant for the women's basketball team while earning a master's degree in physical education with an emphasis in athletic administration. She spent 12 years at University of California, Riverside in a variety of coaching and administrative roles before beginning a Hall of Fame-worthy tenure at California State University, San Bernardino, where her 16 years included service as the university's third athletic director. She guided CSUSB to impressive results in facilities construction and renovation, coaching hires and athletic success, including the school's first six NCAA D-II regional championships. A desire to be closer to her aging parents and family led her to finish her career as director of athletics at Anderson University in South Carolina. Colleagues call her "a champion for student-athletes" and "a humbly confident leader" who impacted thousands.
A member of three athletic halls of fames (Wheeler High, Berry and CSUSB), Nancy also received the Women of Distinction Award from Business Press and the League of Women Voters Citizen Achievement Award. Now retired, she is an active volunteer on the athletic advisory boards for Anderson and San Bernardino; with Meals on Wheels; and at her church.
