Richmond, Va. - Fayetteville State University's Dr. Lawanda Miller received the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Jeanette Lee Athletic Administrator of the Year award at the CIAA Spring General Assembly meeting and end-of-the-year awards reception in Richmond, Va.
 
The award is given to an administrator within the membership at the recommendation of the CIAA Commissioner for servant leadership and embodies the commitment exemplified by Lee, a former CIAA Coach and Athletic Administrator.
 
Dr. Miller, a Texas native, currently serves as the assistant athletics director for business affairs, senior woman administrator, deputy title IX coordinator for the department of athletics, student-athlete advisory committee advisor, and the head cheerleading coach.
 
She has previously been named the CIAA Senior Woman Administrator of the Year by the association in 2018 and 2019.
 
Jeanette A Lee began coaching and teaching health and physical education at Saint Paul's College (SPC) in Lawrenceville, Virginia. She received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Carolina Central University. On the conference level, Lee played a strong leadership role in developing the Women's Athletic division of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). By corralling the league's women leadership and gaining buy-in from the male powerbrokers, the CIAA had their first women's basketball tournament in 1980. On the battlefield for Title IX, Lee made inspirational presentations both nationally and statewide on hearing panels and committees on behalf of women's athletics and the educational benefits of health education for young people.
 
Always the pioneering trailblazer, Ms. Lee became the first female athletic director in 1990 that oversaw both men's and women's programs in the CIAA and was the fifth woman to be inducted in the CIAA Hall of Fame. Known as a strong leader, she was a woman of her word, a believer of inclusion and an advocate for the student, not just the student-athlete.
 
Each year, the CIAA recognizes an athletic administrator who exemplifies these qualities in his/her administration by giving them the Jeanette A. Lee Athletic Administrator of the Year Award.