Dr. Karen Weaver, a 1976 graduate of Abington High School and former athletic director at Penn State Abington, will be inducted into the Lock Haven Athletics Hall of Fame on November 8.

In July, Dr. Weaver was honored for helping the Salisbury State College (now Salisbury University) field hockey team to its first-ever NCAA national championship in any sport in 1986.

In January, Dr. Weaver served as the lead author and editor for a college textbook titled “Sport Finance: Where the Money Comes From, and Where the Money Goes“. Her most recent book, “Understanding College Athletics: What Campus Leaders Need to Know About College Sports”, was released on August 11.

From her Hall of Fame biography:

Karen Weaver | Field Hockey | Class of 1980
Karen Weaver’s impact on field hockey spans an exceptional playing career, championship coaching success and influential leadership within the sport. As a goalkeeper at Lock Haven, Weaver recorded 17 career shutouts and remains among the program’s top five all-time leaders in career goals-against average at 0.61. She also ranks among the top 10 in PSAC history in the category.

Weaver’s success as a player extended to the international level when she was selected to the 1980 U.S. Olympic field hockey team. The team did not compete in the Moscow Olympic Games because of the United States-led boycott.

She went on to become one of the sport’s most accomplished collegiate coaches. Weaver led Salisbury State University to the NCAA Division III national championship in 1986 and was awarded the USA Today Coach of the Year, before serving as head coach at Ohio State University from 1987-96. At Ohio State, she guided the Buckeyes to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1994.

Weaver also served as president of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association from 1987-91 and worked as a broadcast announcer and assistant producer for field hockey at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

She continues to contribute to sport and education as an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Academic Director of The New Athletics Enterprise: Leadership, Risk, and Institutional Strategy certificate program at the University of Pennsylvania. UPenn’s Higher Education Management program ranks in the top-three in the country. 

Weaver and her mother, Joanne Weaver, endowed a Lock Haven field hockey scholarship for over 20 years. 

Weaver also hosts a podcast called Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders on College Athletics and recently authored a book “Understanding College Athletics: What Campus Leaders Need to Know About College Sports”.

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Photo: University of Pennsylvania