NC State Wolfpack

Nora Lynn Finch, a 28-year veteran in the NC State Department of Athletics, is the department's Senior Associate Director and Senior Women's Administrator. She is responsible for overseeing the administration of women's basketball, men and women's golf, men's soccer, postseason appearances, equipment room operations, and outdoor facilities operations.

As SWA, Finch also has various ACC, NCAA, and University responsibilities and committee roles relating to championships administration, equity and diversity, and women's interests and issues.

A native of Henderson, N.C., Finch joined the staff at NC State in 1977 as the Associate Head Women's Basketball Coach and Assistant Coordinator of Women's Athletics. In 1979, she was named Assistant Director of Athletics, a position she held until 1986 when she was named Associate Director with responsibilities for men and women's sports administration. She was named Senior Associate Director in 1996.

She has long been active in the national development of intercollegiate women's basketball, and in 1981 she was named the chair of the inaugural NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee, serving in that capacity until August 1988. In 1987, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) awarded her its first WBCA Special Recognition Award for Athletics Administrators, and in 1989, the ACC presented her with its inaugural women's basketball Distinguished Service Award.

The recipient of a variety of community and athletic awards, Finch has been inducted into the National Women's Athletic Hall of Fame, twice Into the Western Carolina University Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Peace College Athletic Hall of Fame. She was an NCAA 10th anniversary women's athletics honoree in 1991, and in 2002, she received the Outstanding Associate Athletics Director Award from the All-American Football Association. Understandably, In It's millenarian article highlighting sports achievements and contributions, The Orlando Sentinel ranked her as the 12th most influential person in women's athletics in the 20th century. Finch was awarded Western Carolina University's 1997-98 Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award (outstanding alumni award) and was named the Tar Heel of the Week, by the Raleigh News & Observer after serving as Tournament Director for the NCAA Women's Basketball East Regional, which was hosted by NC State. She was recognized by the General Federation of Women's Clubs in North Carolina with a Women of Achievement award in April 2005.

Her extensive experience and achievements have placed her on several key committees on both the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA levels. Most recently, Finch was appointed to the NCAA Division I Management Council as an ACC representative and as Chair of the ACC Men's Golf Committee. Because of her national reputation and expertise, Finch was named to the NCAA Women's Basketball 25th Anniversary Advisory Team, NCAA Women's Basketball Issues Committee and Tournament Manager for the 2007 NCAA Women's First and Second Rounds at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

She keeps busy on committees both related and non-related to the progress of NC State, ACC and NCAA efforts. She is a co-chair of the NC State On Course for Distinction campaign to build a university golf course on Centennial Campus. She Is active In community service serving as a board member for "Pretty in Pink", a non-profit organization to help women receive breast cancer treatment who otherwise could not have afforded it, and as a board member of the Triangle Education Advancement Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises college scholarship funds for Triangle area college-bound high school students. She Is a Past President of the Raleigh Professional Women's Forum and Past Vice-President of the Triangle Youth for Christ Board of Directors. From 1988-92, Finch was active with the National FCA Girls' Basketball Camp, serving as a Platform Speaker and administrator for Instruction.

Her NCAA service record has been extensive, including membership on the Women's Basketball Rules Committee, Student-Athlete Welfare, Access, and Equity Committee, Risk Management and Insurance Task Force, and most recently, the NCAA Playing-Rules Oversight Panel which has endorsement or refusal authority for all the NCAA Rules Committees.

The most notable of the NCAA appointments are her service as the Inaugural Chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee and very recently, Chair of the Division I Championships Cabinet and Committees which has championship policy and procedure oversight for all NCAA championships and football bowl games, and Chair of the Championships Cabinet's Administrative Committee.

Her ACC resume´ is equally impressive. She has served on several committees, including the Awards Committee, Committee on Committees, Committee on Constitution and By-Laws, Committee on Finance, Committee on Women's Basketball, Committee on Infractions, Gender Equity Committee, and Committee on Television. She Is a former chair of the ACC Women's Soccer Committee and SWA liaison for baseball, men's soccer, and swimming and diving.

Since 1988, Finch has represented the NCAA on the U.S. Collegiate Sports Council and was President from 1992-96. She served as the Chief of Mission for the United States Summer World University Games delegations in 1991 (Sheffield, England), 1993 (Buffalo, New York), and 1995 (Fukuoka, Japan).

Finch graduated magna cum laude from Western Carolina in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in education and also earned a master's degree in education from Western Carolina. Before joining NC State, she directed the women's basketball teams at Wake Forest University (1971-73) and Peace College (1973-77) and was Director of Athletics at Peace College (1973-77).