The award is named in honor of the late sports editor and columnist of the Chicago Tribune and is presented to a member who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of college sports information or has brought dignity and prestige to the profession.

The award will be presented on June 28 during CoSIDA's annual convention in St. Louis. Haverbeck is the 43rd recipient of the award and the first woman to receive the profession's highest honor.

The Wilmington, Del., native began her sports information career at the University of Delaware on a volunteer basis in the late 60's introducing the then three-sport Blue Hen women's program to the media while working full-time in the university's Public Information Office.

"I remember sitting in Wembley Stadium watching two field hockey teams play in front of 60,000 fans, with national TV coverage. I thought, 'Wow, I didn't believe this could happen anywhere in the world!' At sports arenas in the United States, women writers were not always allowed in the press boxes. In England, they had the same access as male journalists."

Haverbeck's interest in sports journalism led her to graduate school at Penn State where she wrote her master's degree thesis on media coverage of women's sports.

Women's athletic director Della Durant had been lobbying for coverage of Penn State's then nine-sport women's program and sports information director John Morris hired Haverbeck on a part-time basis to write releases.

"Della fought like crazy on behalf of collegiate sports for women. When I started my job at Penn State I didn't have an office, or even a desk. Della stood up and said, 'Here, take mine!' John was someone I knew because we shared an office when he was the SID at Delaware."

Haverbeck began a relentless campaign to place stories about Lady Lion coaches and athletes. "I knocked on doors to sell advertising for women's programs and walked the streets talking to people, trying to get their support. I visited newspapers, TV and radio stations. I wrote releases and made phone calls. When they told me, 'We don't have time or space to cover women's athletics,' I just kept pitching good story ideas to them. I think people want to read interesting stories about athletes, whether it's a man playing basketball or a woman playing tennis."

Her persistence paid off as Penn State's women's program was featured on ABC's Wide World of Sports and in an extensive profile in Sports Illustrated. A photo of a Penn State Lady Lion lacrosse player also appeared on the cover of Time magazine. "That was especially satisfying as I had worked hard to make sure the name Penn State appeared on all of the women's uniform shirts."

Former Penn State dean Robert Scannell says, "I think Mary Jo succeeded for two reasons. First, she was an excellent journalist, and second, she had a great personality. People could talk to her or work alongside her and come away feeling they'd made a friend."

Haverbeck also recruited other women to join her in the sports information profession. "There's no doubt Mary Jo opened doors in this profession for women like me," Penn State assistant sports information director Cathy Bongiovi says. "Recently our national organization, CoSIDA, honored her for 25 years of service and she became the first woman inducted into their Hall of Fame. At the dinner and ceremony, there were at least 35 of us, all younger women working in sports information, all influenced by her. She's been there to show us the ropes or just listen if we want to talk."

"She has been and continues to be a mentor and a dear friend, who has shaped my current career path," The College of New Jersey Sports Information Director Ann Bready says. "She continues to represent what is good about our profession."

"I always tell people that I joined the sports information profession because of Mary Jo," Syracuse Sports Information Director Sue Cornelius-Edson adds.

"I've had a lot of fun in my career," Haverbeck says. "The most exciting times were the make-or-break games, the nail-biters. I've been to two national football championships, the Sugar Bowl in '82 and the Fiesta Bowl in '86. I've worked nine women's basketball Final Fours and the Olympics. I've visited just about every major basketball venue in the country."

Haverbeck, who lives in State College, Pa., took early retirement from Penn State in December, 1999 but remains active in sports information. She was in charge of the interview room at the NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at Syracuse in March and was the NCAA's media liaison for the Lady Lion basketball team at the 2000 Women's Basketball Final Four in Philadelphia.

"That was special," she recalls. "I was in my hometown market at the premier event in women's college sports with a basketball program I had covered when games were played in front of 50 people. A sold-out arena with 20,000 fans, national television and 700 media -- that was what I envisioned 28 years ago."