Cathy Henkel ’70 is awesome, officially.
The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM, pronounced “awesome”) has publicly recognized Henkel, sports editor for the Seattle Times, as the 2005 winner of the AWSM Pioneer Award. The award is bestowed annually upon an individual who has “paved the way for women in sports media and who serves as a role model for AWSM’s members.”
Henkel joined the Times in 1987 and was named sports editor in 1990. “This is a much-deserved honor for Cathy. As one of the first female sports editors of a major metropolitan daily newspaper, she is in fact a pioneer,” says David Boardman, managing editor for the Times, in a Times article featuring Henkel.
Under Henkel’s leadership, the Times’ sports section has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 daily section for six years running, a Top 10 Sunday section for four years in a row and a Triple Crown winner (daily, Sunday and special section) for three of the last seven years.
In naming Henkel this year’s winner, AWSM may have given away one of her secrets to success as an editor: In addition to her journalism degree from Wichita State, Henkel also holds a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Arizona.
