National Football Foundation

For 50 years, Chris Plonsky has been a trailblazer and tireless advocate for college athletics, building a career that helped bridge the worlds of men's and women's sports while emerging as one of the most respected administrators in the industry.
 
Now in her 38th year overall at the University of Texas, Plonsky serves as executive senior associate athletics director/chief of staff and the Longhorns' senior woman administrator for SEC and NCAA governance. Her current responsibilities include oversight of student-athlete academic and career services, sports medicine and performance, and compliance and risk management.
 
Plonsky previously served as Texas' women's athletics director from 2001-17, but her impact during that era extended well beyond women's sports. From 1993-2017, she held significant responsibilities across both men's and women's athletics, overseeing revenue-producing areas that included multimedia rights, sponsorships, marketing, television and trademark licensing.
 
A longtime friend and leader of the National Football Foundation, Plonsky served on the NFF Board of Directors and its Awards Committee from 2005-15 and has remained an emeritus director since 2015.
 
"Chris has always been all in when it comes to supporting the National Football Foundation and the values we believe in," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Whether it was the Hall of Fame, our scholar-athletes, our academic programs or simply being there whenever we needed her, Chris has always found a way to help. We have been incredibly fortunate to have her as a friend and leader of the NFF."
 
Plonsky's influence extends throughout college athletics. She has served as president of NACDA, NACMA and Women Leaders in Sports, chaired the NCAA Division I Management Council and served on the board of the FBS ADs Association. Her national service has also included 28 years on the USA Basketball Board of Directors, and she currently chairs the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees.
 
Before returning to Texas in 1993, Plonsky worked in athletics communications at Iowa State (1979-81) and Texas (1982-86) before spending seven years at the BIG EAST Conference (1986-93), ultimately serving as associate commissioner for administration.
 
Her contributions have earned widespread recognition, including induction into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2025 and selection by Sports Business Journal as a 2026 Champion: Pioneer & Innovator in Sports Business. Her honors also include induction into the NACMA and CoSIDA halls of fame and recognition as the 2023 WBCA Administrator of the Year and a 2023 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Women's Basketball.
 
Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Greensburg, Pa., and northeast Ohio, Plonsky graduated magna cum laude from Kent State in 1979 with a journalism degree. She was a three-year basketball student-athlete, undergraduate KSU athletics media relations assistant and editor of The Daily Kent Stater.