MIAC DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD RELEASE
MIAC DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD HONOREES

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Augsburg College Assistant Athletic Director Marilyn Pearson Florian '76 recently received the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's highest honor, being named as a recipient of the conference's Distinguished Service Award for her years of service to her alma mater and to the MIAC.

Pearson Florian received her award at the final MIAC Athletic Director's Council meeting of the school year on May 7 at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn. Pearson Florian joined John Gagliardi, who retired this year as college football's all-time winningest coach after coaching St. John's for 60 years (64 overall), as this year's recipients of the MIAC Distinguished Service Award.

Pearson Florian is the second Auggie to receive the MIAC Distinguished Service Award; former administrator Paul Grauer received the honor in 2010. A total of 19 individuals have now received the MIAC Distinguished Service Award since it was established in 2001.

"I am truly honored and humbled by this award," Pearson Florian said. "I am proud to have worked with each of you over the last many years; the best athletic directors, senior woman administrators and conference office in NCAA Division III. I will always have a special place in my heart for Augsburg College and the MIAC."

A 1976 Augsburg alumnae and 1997 inductee into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame, Pearson Florian is retiring this year after 33 years of service to Augsburg as an administrator, instructor and coach. In January, Pearson Florian received a Special Merit Award from the Minnesota Coalition of Women in Athletic Leadership during the 27th annual Minnesota Girls and Women in Sports Day at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.

"Over the years, Marilyn has been a constant advocate for opportunities for young women, leading to a steady increase in both the number of sports offered and the level of participation by Auggie female athletes," said College of St. Benedict Athletic Director Carol Howe-Veenstra, who presented Pearson Florian with the MIAC award on May 7. "Marilyn, you certainly have played it right in serving Augsburg College and the MIAC with significant contributions over many years."

Pearson Florian served as head coach for Augsburg's volleyball team from 1981-98, claiming a school-record 271 victories in her career. Her Auggies reached the NCAA Division III national playoffs in 1982 and finished as MIAC runners-up twice. She also served as Augsburg's women's basketball head coach from 1980-85, compiling a school-record 54 victories in five seasons.

As an administrator, Pearson Florian served as Augsburg's women's athletic director from 1988 to 2007, and as assistant athletic director since 2007. She also serves as the department's Senior Woman Administrator. An assistant professor in the Augsburg health and physical education department, she served as the department chair from 1999 to 2008.

During her tenure as an athletic administrator at Augsburg, the school added five women's sports (golf, cross country, ice hockey, swimming and diving, and lacrosse) and has steadily increased the number of opportunities for Auggie female student-athletes. She initiated the induction of women athletes into Augsburg's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, and created an athletic lettering program for female student-athletes in 1989.

Pearson Florian has been a member of the athletic department staff during two historic women's sport additions at Augsburg; in 1995, when the school became the first college or university in the Midwest to add women's ice hockey as a varsity sport, and in 2012, when Augsburg announced that it would be the first college or university in Minnesota to add women's lacrosse as a varsity sport.

Pearson Florian is regarded as one of the top female student-athletes to ever compete at Augsburg, as a three-sport star (volleyball, basketball and softball) during her Auggie career. She helped lead the Auggie volleyball team to a 52-25 record her last two seasons, reaching the AIAW regional semifinals in 1975. During Augsburg's 40th Anniversary of Women's Athletics celebration in November, she was named to the 10-member 1970s All-Decade Team.

Outside of Augsburg, Pearson Florian has served on the board of the Minnesota Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and has lobbied at the State Capitol for increased time requirements for health and physical education in the public schools.

(NOTE: This story includes information taken from the MIAC's Distinguished Service Award release, and from prior Augsburg Athletics releases regarding Marilyn Pearson Florian.)