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Charlotte F. Westerhaus

Member-at-Large, IUPUI Board of Advisors
Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
National Collegiate Athletic Association
First Appointed: 2006
Term Ends: 2012

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Charlotte F. Westerhaus, is vice president for diversity and inclusion at the National Collegiate Athletic Associaton (NCAA). In her position, Westerhaus reports directly to NCAA President Myles Brand and leads the Office for Diversity and Inclusion. She works with the national office staff and NCAA member institutions to develop and implement effective and efficient strategies, policies and programs that will promote diversity and inclusion in intercollegiate athletics, specifically in coaching, athletics administration and officiating at the national conference and institutional levels.

Westerhaus earned her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1991. While attending law school, she was the first African American female to be admitted to the Indiana Law Journal and served as the assistant editor. In addition, while she was still a law student, she clerked for Indiana Supreme Court Justice Brent E. Dickson. Westerhaus received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Ohio University in 1976 and a master of education degree, also from Ohio University, in 1986.

Before taking the position at the NCAA, Westerhaus was the assistant to the president and director of equal opportunity and diversity at the University of Iowa. Her responsibilities included supporting and enhancing the University's commitment to recruit and retain a diverse and inclusive academic community of faculty, staff, and students. In that capacity, she served on the University's Strategic Planning Committee, the Diversity Committee, and the Dispute Resolution Committee. In addition, Westerhaus served as a member of the Athletic Advisory Council which oversaw the University's intercollegiate athletic department. She was a member of the University's NCAA Certification Committee, the Student-Athlete Welfare Committee and worked with the Intercollegiate Athletics Department to create a clear, concise, and uniform code of conduct for University of Iowa student-athletes. Westerhaus also served on committees that reviewed the status of gender-related issues such the climate for female athletes, staff, and coaches; as well as the role of women in the leadership and organizational structure of the athletics program. She served as the University of Iowa's Title IX Coordinator and American with Disabilities Coordinator. In addition to her administrative duties, she was an adjunct professor at University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, where she taught courses in Business Law and Ethics in Management.

Prior to her work at the University of Iowa, Westerhaus served as the director of Purdue University's affirmative action office and as the assistant to the chancellor for equity and diversity at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside. She has also worked as a student affairs professional at the University of California - Davis and Pomona College.

In addition to her experience working with diversity and inclusion issues, Westerhaus was an attorney with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee; and an associate attorney with the Milwaukee law firm of Foley & Lardner where she practiced in civil litigation.

According to Westerhaus, diversity and inclusion are concepts that have become an academic necessity, and her focus is to ensure that diversity and inclusion positively enhance the experience of all student-athletes.