Temple University Athletics
STALEY TO CO-CHAIR PHILADELPHIA'S 2016 OLYMPIC BID COMMITTEE
6.7.06 | Women's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA- Dawn Staley, a three time Olympic Gold Medalist and Head Coach of the Temple women's basketball team, has been chosen as a co-chairperson for Philadelphia 2016, the entity in charge of bringing the 2016 Olympic Games to Philadelphia. Staley will serve alongside Joseph M. Torsella, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center and David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation.
In addition to Staley, Head Fencing Coach Nikki Franke and Clarence Armbrister, Temple's Senior Vice President, will serve on the Committee's Board of Directors. Armbrister is Co-Chair of the Finance Committee, while Franke, a two-time Olympian and U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame inductee, is a Co-Chair of the Sports Relations Committee.
"Having grown up in the housing projects of North Philly, I understand the profound value of Olympic dreams," said Staley. "This bid will provide a backdrop to further develop sport in our region and to allow the spirit of the Olympics to leave a legacy for the future."
Staley led the United States National Basketball Team to gold medals in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and was selected as the United States flag bearer for the opening ceremonies in 2004's Athens, Greece Games. She is one of just three women in American history to earn three consecutive Olympic basketball gold medals (Olympic teammates Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes are the others). After retiring from Olympic competition following the 2004 Games, Staley continues to be involved with USA Basketball. In May of 2005,she was elected by a vote of USA Basketball's current athletes as an athlete representative on the USA Basketball Executive Committee. She will serve a three-year term alongside former USA Men's Pan American Games silver medalist Scott Paddock. In February of 2006, Staley was selected as an assistant coach for the 2006 USA Women's World Championship Team, headed by former Olympian and the WNBA's Seattle Storm Head Coach Anne Donovan. Staley will coach alongside Duke Head Coach Gail Goestenkors and the WNBA's Connecticut Sun Head Coach Mike Thibault at the 2006 FIBA World Championships, held September 12-23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"The Olympic bid process will help Philadelphia identify economic development
opportunities that will attract new businesses and jobs to our region," said Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street. "Striving for the 2016 Olympic Games will have a positive effect on our entire region. The economic and infrastructure development and the cultural planning necessary to fashion a successful bid will help propel our region's economic growth well before and long after the Olympics."
The complete list of the founding members of the Philadelphia 2016 Board of Directors is as follows:
· Renee Amorre, Founder and President of The Amoore Group
· Clarence D. Armbrister, Senior Vice President, Temple University
· Frank Baldino, Jr., Ph.D., Chairman and CEO, Cephalon, Inc.
· Dorrit J. Bern, Chairman, President and CEO, Charming Shoppes, Inc.
· John K. Binswanger, Chairman, Binswanger Company
· Bob W. Bogle, President and CEO, The Philadelphia Tribune
· William G. Chadwick, President, Chadwick Associates, Inc.
· Betsy Cohen, Chairman and CEO, Resource Asset Investment Trust
· David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation
· A. Bruce Crawley, President, Millennium 3 Management
· Pat Croce, President, Pat Croce & Company
· Nicholas DeBenedictis, Chairman and CEO, Aqua America, Inc.
· André L. Dennis, Partner, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP
· Joanne Denworth, Vice-Chair, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
· Nelson A. Diaz, Partner, Blank Rome Cominsky & McCauley, LLP
· Valerie C. Ferguson, Regional Vice President & Managing Director, Loews Philadelphia Hotel
· Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, President -- PA Region, Bank of America
· Nikki V. Franke, Fencing, Head Coach, Temple University and two-time Olympian
· James P. Gallagher, President, Philadelphia University
· Kenneth Gamble, Chairman, Universal Companies
· Pat B. Gillespie, Business Manager, Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council
· Dexter Green, former Director of School Safety, Philadelphia School District
· Amy Gutmann, Ph.D., President, University of Pennsylvania
· Robert Hall, Former Publisher and Chairman, Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc.
· William P. Hankowsky, Chairman, President and CEO, Liberty Property Trust
· April Holmes, Paralympian, Track & Field
· Ronald Jaworski, President, RJ Management
· Billy King, President and General Manager, Philadelphia 76ers
· Joel S. Lawson, III
· Meryl Levitz, President and CEO, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.
· Paul R. Levy, President and CEO, Center City District
· Hugh Long II, State CEO for Pennsylvania and Delaware, Wachovia Bank
· Alba E. Martinez, President and CEO, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
· Virginia McDowell, Executive Vice President, Trump Entertainment Resorts
· Travis Mohr, Paralympian, Swimming
· Jerry Mondesire, Publisher and Editor, The Philadelphia Sunday Sun
· Tom Muldoon, President, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau
· Stephanie Naidoff, Philadelphia Commerce Director
· Larry Needle, Executive Director, Philadelphia Sports Congress
· Peter J. Neeson, Partner, Rawle & Henderson, LLP
· Marcus O'Sullivan, Director, Villanova University Track & Field and four-time Olympian
· Constantine Papadakis, President, Drexel University
· Dawn Staley, Head Coach of the Temple University Women's Basketball Team and three-time Olympian
· Sam Staten, Sr., Business Manager, Laborers' International Union of North America, Local 332
· David Thornburgh, Executive Director, Eastern Division, Pennsylvania Economy League
· Joseph M. Torsella, President and CEO, National Constitution Center
· Kenneth I. Trujillo, Member, Trujillo, Rodriquez & Richards, LLC
· Judith von Seldeneck, Chairman, Diversified Search, LLC
· William L. Wilson, Principal in Charge, Synterra, LTD
· Kenneth Wong, President, CIG Asia, Ltd.
