Jane Miller Announces Her Retirement After 35-Year Career with UVA Athletics
Charlottesville, Va. – Jane Miller, a 35-year veteran of the Virginia athletics department as a head coach and administrator, announced today (Nov. 20) her retirement effective next spring. Miller currently serves as the senior associate director of athletics for programs/senior woman administrator, a position she has held since 2001. She is the sport supervisor for men’s golf, volleyball, women’s soccer, field hockey, women’s basketball, baseball, men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse.
“Retirement was not an easy decision for me,” Miller said. “I have been fortunate to be a part of the University and the Virginia athletic department for 35 years and it has been both exciting and challenging. I want to thank the University and the athletic directors for whom I’ve worked – Dick Schultz, Jim Copeland, Terry Holland, Craig Littlepage and Carla Williams – for allowing me to serve at such an outstanding institution.
“I’ve been blessed to work with the finest coaches, student-athletes and administrators in the country throughout my career. I will miss the daily interaction and the relationships I’ve developed with those people the most. Be assured that I will remain their biggest fan and a Hoo forever.”
Miller came to Virginia in 1983 as head field hockey and women’s lacrosse coach. She was UVA’s head field hockey coach from 1983-91 and her teams compiled a record of 100-65-7 in nine seasons, making three trips to the NCAA championships and claiming two ACC regular-season titles.
She is the winningest coach in UVA’s women’s lacrosse history with a 12-year record of 144-44. She led UVA to six NCAA Final Four appearances and to two national championships (1991 and 1993). She was named NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year in 1991.
After resigning as head field hockey coach following the 1991 season, Miller took on the responsibilities of assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator in 1992. She remained UVA’s women’s lacrosse coach until 1995, when she ended her coaching career to assume full-time administrative duties.
“Jane Miller has enjoyed an incredible career as a highly-respected administrator and successful coach over four decades at Virginia,” said UVA director of athletics Carla Williams. “She has positively influenced the lives of countless UVA student-athletes.
“For me personally, she has been a tremendous resource and a trusted advisor in my first year at UVA. Her administrative experience at UVA as well as within the ACC and NCAA governance structure has been invaluable. We will miss her, but thankfully she will be staying in Charlottesville and is only a phone call away.”
Miller’s career as a collegiate sport administrator has encompassed much more than her duties as a sport administrator for numerous programs at Virginia.
In December 2014, Miller was the first Senior Women’s Administrator appointed to the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, where she participates in the overall governance of NCAA Division I Athletics. Miller also serves on the University Women’s Leadership Council, Calendar Committee, Admissions Committee and Judicial Review Board. She is the chair of the ACC Men’s Lacrosse Committee, and a member of the ACC Women’s Basketball, Women’s Lacrosse and Baseball committees. Miller was appointed Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the University in 2013 and served in that capacity until Spring 2016.
Miller was elected chair of the NCAA Division I Championship/Sports Management Cabinet in 2011. She held that position until January 2014 and served as chair of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame Committee (women’s division) from 2010-2012. Miller was a member of the NACWAA Board of Directors from 2009-13.
Since the spring of 2017, Miller has had another role in the NCAA. She serves as the vice chair of the Division I Transfer Working Group, as one of the NCAA Board of Directors’ representatives.
Miller was reappointed to the board of directors for Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) in 2014 and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
In May 1999, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the UVA Women’s Faculty and Professional Association and in 2009 she received the President’s Award for Exemplary Service to the ACC. In 2013, she received the Claudia Dodson Equity Award from the WINs organization. In 2014, Miller received the Administrator of the Year Award from Women Leaders in College Sports and the Elizabeth Zintl Award presented by the University of Virginia Women’s Center for outstanding leadership and devotion to the University.
She was elected to the Virginia chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1996, the New England chapter of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2000, the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame and Oliver Ames High School Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Eastern Mass Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in July 2015.
A native of Easton, Mass., Miller graduated from Northeastern University in 1973 and was elected to her alma mater’s Hall of Fame in 1983. She was a three-sport standout at Northeastern in basketball, field hockey and lacrosse.