Episode 35: Joan Cronan

Joan has spent her career changing the landscape of women’s athletics at the collegiate level. She spent a couple of decades as the Women’s Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee. Most notably, she was over the athletic department when Pat Summitt brought the Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team to the national stage due to their tremendous success. Joan is also known for serving on the First Tennessee Bank Advisory Board, a Trustee for the U.S. Sports Academy, and she is on the Board of Trustees at Carson-Newman College. She’s been named a Champion in Sports Business by Sports Business Journal. She was elected President of the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. She has also been inducted into the Louisiana State University Hall of Distinction, the College of Charleston Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Hall of Champions. Today, Joan is a nationally recognized speaker and business consultant.

In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Joan Cronan about what it’s like to spend so much of her career at the University of Tennessee, the difficulties of rising up the ranks in the athletic field, leadership lessons she has learned, what it’s like working with a dynamic leader, and how her faith has played such a pivotal role in her life.