Janice Ruggiero, recently retired Deputy Athletic Director for Internal Affairs at the University of New Mexico, has been named as a recipient of the Mountain West’s Dr. Albert C. Yates Distinguished Service Award.
Along with Ruggiero, late longtime athletic communications leader Lawrence Fan of San Jose State also was named as a winner of the award.
They become the 13th and 14th winners in the league’s 23-year history.
The award goes to an individual who “has served, supported and promoted the goals and ideals of the Mountain West or a member institution; an individual who, through personal effort and dedication, has enhanced the ability of the conference and/or its member institutions to provide a positive experience for the student-athletes enrolled at any member institution,” the league said in a statement.