Jody Brylinsky, '77, named "Woman of the Year" by WMU

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Jody Brylinsky, a Slippery Rock University 1977 undergraduate and 1979 master’s degree recipient, has been selected as the 2010 Woman of the Year by Western Michigan University and the Varsity "W" Club board of directors.

She and Fred Sitkins, a 1959 WMU graduate who was named Man of the Year, were honored Saturday during halftime of the WMU men's basketball game against Bowling Green.

Brylinsky is the 21st “W” Club Woman of the Year. She is a professor and coordinator of the master of arts in sport performance program, at WMU. Her program is an NCACE Level 5 graduate program for preparing master-level coaches.

She is a past president of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, was selected to the NASPE Sport Hall of Fame, chaired the writing team for the first and second revision of the "National Standards for Sport Coaches" and is a contributor to the "National Coaching Report: The State of Coaching in the U.S.A." 

A former high school coach, college athlete, coach and athletic director, Brylinsky was selected as a USOC Project Gold participant and is currently a Special Olympic volunteer coach. She has received numerous awards and citations in the areas of the Special Olympics and physical education, 22 in all, between 1997-2008.

The focus of her instruction and research interests during her 19 years at WMU involve all aspects of coach education and the social/psychological development of athletes. 

She received her doctorate in physical education in sport studies from the University of Minnesota, after earning her master of education in sport studies and her bachelor of science in health and physical education from SRU.