Mary Alice Hill has changed the course of history by seeing that women’s sports are televised and given equal funding by law. She was an international competitor in Track and Field, which led her to eventually train four Olympians and coach record-setting teams. She was the first Director of Women’s Athletics in the first year women were given this title nationally, at Colorado State University; the first to award an Athletic Scholarship for Women at CSU in 1973; won a Title IX sex discrimination lawsuit in a landmark case that set new standards.

In 1976, Ms. Hill became Associate Athletic Director of Women’s Athletics at San Diego State University, and in 1978 Associate Athletic Director for both Men and Women, a first, including becoming Director in 1982, ten years before the next woman was appointed to that position. She brought new opportunities for women in a 75 year male-dominated organization (NCAA), including scholarships, televised events and the same opportunities as men. She even authored a Gender Equity Policy Procedures Manual at SDSU for the Men’s and Women’s program, which became a guide for colleges. She assured equal pay for the women coaches at SDSU.