INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  --  Debbie Hickey has been named the recipient of the Great Lakes Valley Conference's (GLVC) Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award. Having recently retired in July 2025, Hickey was a long-time administrator for Missouri S&T athletics, serving over three decades in the department and retiring with the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Business and Senior Woman's Administrator.

------------------------GLVC RELEASE ------------------------

The Great Lakes Valley Conference has selected Debbie Hickey of the Missouri S&T as this year's recipient of the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award, the conference announced Wednesday.
 
Hickey will be formally recognized at the GLVC Spring Awards Reception in St. Louis on Tuesday, May 19.
 
The Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award is presented to an individual or group that has contributed to the success of the GLVC, as it relates to the NCAA Division II attributes of learning, balance, resourcefulness, sportsmanship, passion, and service.

For more than 30 years, the Missouri S&T athletic department served as Hickey's home away from home. She began working at the university in November 1986 in the accounting and fiscal services office before transitioning to the athletic department during the 1993–94 academic year as a secretary.
During her career, Hickey served on numerous committees and in a variety of leadership roles, including two years on the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee for softball. She also served as the senior woman administrator for GLVC Baseball, Women's Volleyball, and Softball Championships on multiple occasions. In addition, she served on the GLVC Awards Committee and GLVC Finance Committee, assisted with coordinating merchandise sales during GLVC Championships, and helped update the GLVC compliance handbooks by providing recommendations to ensure accuracy and quality.

Missouri S&T's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) honored Hickey with an honorary letterman's jacket in May 2025 following the announcement of her retirement. Throughout her career, she also served on the University of Missouri System's accounting committee on several occasions, served as President of Staff Council for four years, was a Title IX partner, and was a member of both the Athletics Committee and the Miner Athletics Hall of Fame Committee.

Hickey spearheaded the creation of the Pioneers of Women's Athletics at Missouri S&T, a project dedicated to recognizing the university's original female student-athletes from the 1970s. In 2017, the group was presented with letter jackets, a meaningful tribute, as they had not received them during their time as student-athletes. The Pioneers were later inducted into the Miner Hall of Fame in 2024.

Hickey also served as Missouri State High School Activities Association ( MSHSAA) volleyball official for 26 years and assisted the GLVC by serving as a line judge for men's and women's volleyball matches.

------------------------------------

About the Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award 
The GLVC Service Award is named in honor of Dr. Thomas Kearns, who was Northern Kentucky's faculty athletic representative for 23 years and provided unparalleled service to the GLVC during that period. Kearns served the GLVC as both treasurer and president during his tenure at NKU and assisted with the budget reporting system and the current revenue sharing policy. He spearheaded the league's first major expansion, wrote the GLVC Hall of Fame guidelines, served on the initial GLVC Awards Committee and developed and maintained the GLVC Handbook. Kearns spent countless hours developing the GLVC into one of the premier NCAA Division II athletic conferences.
 
The award was first presented in 2011 to Northern Kentucky's Kevin Listerman, and has since been awarded to SIU Edwardsville's Eric Hess (2012), USI's David and Lois Stevens (2013), Kentucky Wesleyan's Roy Pickerill (2014), USI's Ray and Cindy Bippus (2015), Doug McCarty and Dan Cunningham (2016) of the East Side Centre in East Peoria, Illinois, Saint Joseph's College's Bill and Teresa Massoels (2017), Missouri S&T's John Kean (2018), UIndy's Dr. Lawrence Sondhaus (2019), all 15 member institution athletic training staffs (2021), Crawfordsville High School Athletics Director, Bryce Barton, Aquatics Director, Kevin Hedrick, Assistant Aquatics Director, Sarah Dowd, and Montgomery County Visitors & Convention Bureau Executive Director, Heather Shirk (2022), Bellarmine's Dr. Ann Jirkovsky (2023), and Indianapolis' George Maude (2024). The award was not presented in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sign up for our email blast at https://minerathletics.com/subscribe.aspx
Follow Miners Sports on X, Facebook, & Instagram at @minersports