Dorothy Harris (1990) - JMU Athletics Hall of Fame - James Madison University Athletics

Dorothy Harris

Induction:
1990
Class:
1953

Dorothy Harris ('53) was a pioneer in the field of sport psychology whose influence extended to both the professional and the layperson. In 1989 she was awarded the first Fulbright Scholarship in psychology for designated research in sport psychology. That year she also became the first woman inducted as a fellow into the International Society of Sports Psychology. She was a recipient of a Women's Sports Foundation award which cited her as making the greatest contribution to women in sport. She held a variety of offices in national organizations, among them president of the North American Society for Psychology and vice president of the Women's Sports Foundation. She wrote or co-authored five books and had articles published in numerous professional journals. She was a contributing editor to WomenSports magazine, editor of the International Society of Sport Psychology newsletter and associate editor of the International Journal of Sports Psychology. She was invited to present papers at local, regional and international meetings, including conferences in North America, Europe, Israel and Japan. She served on numerous regional and national committees, including the U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine Committee on Sports Psychology. While an undergraduate at JMU, she was a member of the field hockey, basketball and swimming teams and was named to the Virginia Reserve Field Hockey Team. She earned a master's degree from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and did postdoctoral work at Penn State University.