Celebrating more than 40 years of service to women’s athletics, longtime URI Senior Associate Director of Athletics Ellie Lemaire was one of 15 individuals inducted to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hall of Fame this spring. Lemaire, who worked here from 1976–1992, was honored during a ceremony at the Matrix Conference and Banquet Center in Danbury, Conn.

Throughout her career, Lemaire served as a teacher, coach, official, and administrator, while volunteering her time on numerous state and national committees. She was an early and longtime advocate of Title IX and a respected consultant nationally in sports equity matters. Her dedication to championing opportunities for young women and her continued fight for the support of women’s athletics touched the lives of thousands of women.

In 1979, Lemaire became the fifth URI admin-istrator to receive the school’s coveted Administrative Excellence Award, and in 1994, she was inducted into the URI Athletics Hall of Fame. The URI Athletics Department named its fundraising arm for women’s athletics after Lemaire in 2011, as the University’s most generous financial contributors in support of women’s athletics became part of the Ellie Lemaire Society. She was also this year’s honorary chairperson for An Evening of Grapes and Grain. Entering its eighth year, Grapes and Grain is the preeminent fundraiser for URI’s women’s athletics programs.

Lemaire came to Rhode Island in 1976 to serve as assistant athletic director. Under her leadership and guidance, women’s athletics grew to national prominence. A founding member of the Rhode Island chapter of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), she was appointed to the group’s national Committee on Men’s Athletics in 1977, and was president of both AIAW’s Eastern Region and Rhode Island organizations, among other appointments. She was recipient of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators District 1 Administrator of the Year Award in 1994.