Ellie Lemaire has contributed more than 40 years of service to women’s athletics, especially to the University of Rhode Island as Senior Associate Director of Athletics from 1976 to 1992. 

Throughout her impressive career, Ellie served as a teacher, coach, official, and administrator, while volunteering her time as a part of numerous state and national committees. She was an early and long-time advocate of Title IX and a respected consultant nationally in sports equity matters.  Her dedication to championing opportunities for young women and her continued fight for the support of women’s athletics touched the lives of tens of thousands of women over the years.

She is this year’s honorary chairperson for URI’s “An Evening of Grapes and Grain.” Entering its seventh year in 2016, Grapes and Grain the preeminent fundraiser for URI’s women’s athletics programs.

Lemaire began her career in intercollegiate athletics in 1964, joining the staff of Arnold College at the University of Bridgeport.  There, she coached the only undefeated women's basketball team in the school's history. Active in officiating, Lemaire was both basketball chairperson and board chairperson of Southwest Connecticut's Board of Women Officials from 1963 to 1966 and was Officiating Coordinator of the Eastern District from 1967 to 1969. She was a rated official in three sports:  basketball, volleyball and field hockey.  She would become the director of women’s athletics and also serve as an associate professor of physical education at Arnold. An early and long-time advocate of Title IX, Lemaire was selected as a consultant in sport equity matters for the Connecticut Department of Education and the University of Bridgeport.  

In 1976, Lemaire returned to her native Rhode Island to serve as Assistant Athletic Director at URI, where under her leadership and guidance, women’s athletics grew to national prominence.  A founding member of the Rhode Island Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (RIAIAW), she was appointed to the AIAW Committee on Men’s Athletics in 1977, which acted as a liaison between the NCAA, NAIA, and AIAW.  She was the president of both the Eastern Region and Rhode Island AIAW organizations and was on the AIAW Executive Board as the Region I representative.  Lemaire also served on the NACWAA Executive Board and was the recipient of the NACWAA District 1 Administrator of the Year Award in 1994.

In addition to URI Athletics, Lemaire is a member of numerous Halls of Fame: Bristol, R.I. (1986); University of Bridgeport (1990); New Agenda/Northeast Women (1990); Connecticut Basketball (1997); and Connecticut Field Hockey Hall of Fame (2007).  She also has been the recipient of many other honors and awards including the Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (CAPHER) Professional Award, the A.T. Cranston Award (R.I.), Outstanding Teacher Award (University of Bridgeport), Distinguished Service Award (New England College Athletic Conference), Administrator of the Year (National Association of College Women Athletic Administrators, District 1), and the Katherine Ley Award (Eastern College Athletic Conference).  In 2001, the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) honored her with one of its Lifetime Achievement Awards.

A native of Bristol, R.I., Lemaire received her undergraduate degree from Boston University’s Sargent College in 1951.  She earned her master’s in education at Rhode Island College in 1962 and was a certified doctoral candidate at Columbia University.  Lemaire’s classroom experience included 12 years at the secondary level, teaching in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York school systems.