2026 Gwen Norrell Lecture

Attend the annual Gwen Norrell Lecture on Youth Sport and Student Athlete Wellbeing, hosted by the Department of Kinesiology.

Professors Karin Pfeiffer and Leapetswe Malete are the joint scholar at Michigan State University to be named the Gwendolyn Norrell Professor in Youth Sport. The professorship honors Gwendolyn Norrell, who was a nationally recognized proponent for student-athlete welfare, and a former MSU faculty member. The professorship, which includes the annual Gwen Norrell Lecture on Youth Sport and Student Athlete Wellbeing, was established in 2018 as part of the Empower Extraordinary campaign at MSU.

Speaker:

Nicole M. LaVoi, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer of social and behavioral sciences in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota and the Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. Through action-oriented collaborative research, she translates data and answers critical questions that can make a difference in the lives of girls and women. As a leading scholar on gender, leadership and women coaches, LaVoi has published 100+ book chapters, research reports and peer-reviewed articles in top-rated journals. Her Outstanding Academic Title award-winning book Women in Sports Coaching, the annual Women in College Coaching Report Card™ and Emmy-nominated documentary GAME ON: Women Can Coach help inform countless stakeholders who changing the system for women sport coaches. She is the founder of Coaching HER®, and co-creator of Body Confident Sport, free tools to upskill coaches to more effectively coach girls.

As a public scholar she hosts a podcast (Tucker Center Talks), consults with a variety of stakeholder groups, works with industry partners, speaks around the world, fields media requests, provides thought leadership, and serves on mission-driven advisory boards. She is a two-time NCAA Academic All-American and three-time Hall of Fame inductee. LaVoi is an award-winning athlete, coach, scholar, and distinguished teacher, who won a regional Emmy for Best Sport Documentary, and was named a 2023 USTA Champion of Equality her longstanding work in gender and sport. LaVoi played collegiate tennis at Gustavus Adolphus College winning a NCAA-III National Team Championship where she currently serves on the Board of Trustees.

Prior to her career in higher education, she was a USPTA Teaching Pro and head tennis coach at Wellesley College. In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, biking, hiking, golf, painting and soaking up the sun.