Dr. Nikki Franke Retires after 50 Seasons as the Temple Fencing Coach

PHILADELPHIA - Dr. Nikki Franke, who has guided Temple Fencing since its first season as a varsity sport in 1972, has announced that she is retiring following an incredible 50 seasons of success at the helm of the program.

A media conference will be held on Tuesday morning (11 am) in the Fox Gittis room of the Liacouras Center with Coach Franke and to introduce her successor, two-time Temple All-American and former Brandeis men's and women's fencing coach Jennie Salmon.

"I have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to do something I deeply love for my entire adult life," said Franke, who departs as the longest-tenured head coach in the history of Temple Athletics. "I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Temple coaching so many amazing young women. It has never felt like work, more a labor of love. I will miss leading the program, but I am leaving it in great hands with one of my former fencers and an outstanding coach, Jennie Salmon.

Without the opportunity that Temple University gave me to grow, both as a coach and as an educator, none of this would have been possible. I will always be grateful to Temple and the Athletic Staff for their support over the years. I especially want to thank Arthur Johnson for the leadership and guidance he has provided the department since coming to Temple.

I may not be here in an official capacity anymore, but I will be around as Temple will always be my home. Go Owls!"

"Dr. Nikki Franke is legendary and peerless," said Temple University President, Dr. Jason Wingard. "She is a Temple icon and represents excellence as a scholar, a former elite fencer, and the first Black woman to ever coach an NCAA fencing team. We are honored that she chose Temple, for half a century, to build and lead a best-in-class women's athletic program."

"Temple Fencing is Nikki Franke, and the program has been so incredibly fortunate to have her as its coach and role model for 50 years," said Temple University Vice President and Director of Athletics, Arthur Johnson. "No one is more beloved in the athletics department as well as on campus as she also taught and mentored our students for five decades in Temple University's Department of Public Health. Her accolades and success are endless, but it will be her presence that will be missed the most.

I speak for all our athletics staff in wishing her well and her family well in the next stage of her life."

The all-time winningest women's athletics coach at Temple, Franke amassed 898 wins, including the 1992 NCAA Championship, during her Hall of Fame career. Perennially ranked in the Top 10 in the nation, the iconic coach has guided the program to an active streak of 26 straight National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association Championships.

During the half-century of her leadership, 37 Temple fencers have earned 66 NCAA selections with 25 of those Owls garnering 35 All-America honors. Temple Fencing has had a winning record in 48 of Franke's 50 years at the helm, including 18 20-plus win campaigns.

Franke is in four Hall of Fames and will be inducted into her fifth when she enters the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame this Nov. 3. She is a member of the International Sports Hall of Fame and the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame with the 1992 National Champion Fencing Team. Franke has also been inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame as an individual, the US Fencing Association Hall of Fame, and the Brooklyn College Hall of Fame. She also received the United States Fencing Coaches Association Women's Fencing Coach of the Year honors in 1983, 1987, 1988, and 1991.

A member of the 1976 and 1980 U.S. Olympic teams, Franke was the United States Fencing Association's (USFA) National Foil Champion in both 1975 and 1980. She was the runner-up in the national finals in 1978 and finished third in 1976, 1977, and 1979. Franke was a member of the U.S. Team which placed fifth in the 1973 World University Games in Moscow, as well as the American squad that competed in the World University Games in Bulgaria in 1977. A member of two U.S. delegations that competed in the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games, she captured a silver medal in the 1975 individual foil competition and a bronze in the 1979 competition. On both occasions, she helped the United States team to a third-place finish.

Temple Athletics recently hosted a 50^th Anniversary Dinner for Coach Franke and the Fencing Program. Click here to view.

Temple University Athletics

Dr. Nikki Franke Retires after 50 Seasons as the Temple Fencing Coach

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