Barbara Hibner

Beginning her 27th year at Nebraska, Dr. Barbara A. Hibner serves as associate athletic director and senior woman administrator.

In addition to her responsibilities with compliance for the entire athletic program, Hibner has also coordinated and directed special events, including conference and NCAA events in basketball, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, soccer, swimming and diving and men's and women's tennis. Most recently, she served as the tournament director for the 2004 NCAA softball regional at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln.

Hibner supervises the publication of the student-athlete handbook and was the senior editor of the letterwinners directory, "107 Years of Letterwinners at Nebraska," in 1997. Hibner was also the driving force in the creation of the University of Nebraska’s mascot, "Lil’ Red," in 1994.

Hibner was an active member of the NCAA Committee on Athletics Certification and served a five-year term as a peer reviewer. She also completed service as chairwoman of the Big 12 Conference Board of Senior Woman Administrators in September of 1999, and currently is a member of the Big 12's Administrative and Television Committees.

Hibner was selected to receive the Lyell Bremser Special Merit Award from the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2003. She was chosen as the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators District VII Administrator of the Year in 1997. The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women named Hibner the 1998-99 Region Three Administrator of the Year. Hibner, who received the YWCA Tribute to Women award in 1994, was honored in 2000 with the Nebraska Athletic Department’s first Trailblazer Award.

Hibner joined the NU staff in 1978 as the assistant women’s athletic director with responsibility for day-to-day operations, compliance and development of the first staff policy and procedures manual for the women’s athletic department. She became the women’s athletic director in 1985. Her position changed from women’s athletic director to associate athletic director and senior woman administrator in 1994.

Hibner is a supporter of the progress and advancement of women’s athletics at Nebraska and throughout the nation. In the past nine years, soccer (1994), bowling (1997) and rifle (1998) have been added, making Nebraska the Big 12 leader with 13 sports programs providing women 117 scholarship opportunities. She established events in Lincoln for women’s gymnastics, basketball and volleyball. Hibner was responsible for the partnership between the women’s athletic department and DARE in 1989 that encouraged student-athlete involvement in community service projects. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office in May of 2004.

A native of Gettysburg, Pa., Hibner earned her bachelor of science degree from Penn State University in 1964. She continued her education at the State University of New York at Cortland, receiving her master of science degree in 1970. She earned a Ph.D. from Texas Women’s University in 1977.

Hibner came to Nebraska after serving as a successful teacher, coach and athletic administrator at both the high school and collegiate levels.

She is a member of the National Association for Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators. Hibner previously was a member of the National Association of Athletic Marketing and Development and the National Association of Athletics Compliance Coordinators.

Hibner is also a member of the American Association of University Women, and the softball, women’s basketball and volleyball coaches associations. She was also a member of the NCAA Women’s Committee on Committees from 1989 to 1991. She was chairperson of the NCAA Division I Midwest Softball Advisory Committee and a member of the NCAA Division I Softball Committee from 1999 to 2003. She also served as director of the Women’s College World Series in 1991.

Hibner has also served on the Board of Directors of the University of Nebraska Federal Credit Union for six years, and is a past president of the University of Nebraska Association for Administrative Development.