The Joyce Pounds Hardy Award is the top honor for a Rice senior female student-athlete and winning it becomes a very competitive endeavor. In honoring long-time Rice supporter Joyce Pounds Hardy, the recipient must produce athletic and academic excellence, be a true leader on her team, involved on campus and in the community and have the pursuit of excellence in the education of the mind and body. Each year, the award recognizes the Owls' top overall female student-athlete for her efforts in sports, in the classroom and in the community.

Joyce was born on the 23rd of November 1925 in Houston. After graduation from Lamar, Joyce entered Rice Institute with the class of ’45, majoring in English. While there, she organized the first women’s football, basketball, and softball teams. The dean of women threatened to expel the women for “unladylike conduct” but relented when they agreed to move their games to the outskirts of campus. It was then when Joyce made a promise that if ever it were in her power, no woman would be denied the opportunity to play a sport at Rice. She kept this promise by becoming a fierce advocate for women’s athletics.

Before Joyce entered her junior year at Rice, she met and married former Rice graduate and then UTMB medical student, Tom Hardy. His naval obligation compelled Joyce to leave Rice to become a Navy wife. For over ten years they lived the military life with stops in Galveston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pensacola, and San Diego. During that time, they became the parents to five children, moving back to Houston once Tom’s tour of duty in Korea was complete. After 25 years of marriage, Joyce re-enrolled at Rice, finishing her degree in English in 1967.

That set the stage for a lifetime commitment to the university. Her husband, Tom, a long-time anesthesiologist at Methodist Hospital, passed away in 1984 at which time she refocused her energies on family, writing, and Rice. For over four decades, Joyce was a tireless advocate for women’s athletics on campus. Her significant contributions to that cause are honored each year with the presentation of the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award, given to the most outstanding female varsity athlete for athletic and scholastic achievement.

Joyce Pounds Hardy Award Recipients

1975 Janis Tymeson, volleyball
1976 Debbie Turner, basketball
1977 Shelly Pennington, basketball
1978 Debbie Turner, basketball
1979 Patti Sharp, basketball & volleyball
1980 Patti Sharp, basketball & volleyball
1981 Kay Snell, swimming
1982 Pat Krieger, basketball
1983 Katherine Osten, basketball
1984 Regina Cavanaugh, track & field
1985 Regina Cavanaugh, track & field
1986 Regina Cavanaugh, track & field
1987 Catherine Spradley, track & field
1988 Pam Klassen, track & field
1989 Michelle Barz, track & field
1990 Robyn Bryant, track & field

1991 Patricia Bowen, volleyball
1992 Julie Jiskra, track & field
1993 Claudia Haywood, track & field
1994 Emily Massad, track & field
1995 Candace Lessmeister, track & field
1996 Holly Welch, track & field
1997 Darcy Cruikshank, volleyball
1998 Sheila Madigan, track & field
1999 Elizabeth Corneliuson, swimming
2000 Jenny Cafferty, basketball
2001 Jessica Sommerfeld, track & field
2002 Erin Brand, track & field
2003 Kim Lawson, basketball
2004 Lindsey Maynard, basketball
2005 Keia Watkins, track & field
2006 Blair DiSesa, tennis

2007 Callie Wells, track & field
2008 Diane Gu, swimming
2009 Eleanor Waite, track & field
2010 Tracey Lam, volleyball
2011 Karen Gerken, swimming
2012 Becky Wade, track & field
2013 Andie Obermeyer, soccer
2014 Dominique Harmath, tennis
2015 Natalie Beazant, tennis
2016 Claire Uke, track & field
2017 Cali Roper, track & field
2018 Samantha Chaiken, soccer
2019 Lee Ann Cunningham, volleyball
2020 Erica Ogwumike, basketball
2021 Nancy Mulkey, basketball
2022 Nicole Lennon, volleyball
2023 Grace Forbes, cross country/T&F

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Joyce Pounds Hardy Award Recipients