Diane Turnham

Diane Turnham, the associate athletic director and senior women’s administrator, is in her 32nd year with the Blue Raiders. Voted Middle Tennessee’s employee of the year for 2001-02, Turnham has served two stints as the department’s interim athletic director and most recently was elected into the Blue Raider Hall of Fame.

Currently she is a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee and is in her second year as Chair of that committee. In the spring of 2010, Turnham received the King Hampton Award which is presented to the employee who makes significant contributions to improve the status of women on campus.

On March 1, 2004, Turnham was appointed the acting athletic director when then-AD Boots Donnelly underwent heart surgery. Turnham handled the position for two months before returning to her position as the associate athletic director overseeing women’s athletics.

President Sidney McPhee then turned the reins back over to Turnham as interim athletic director on January 12, 2005, following the resignation of Donnelly. Turnham served in that role for nearly five months until Chris Massaro was hired on April 8, 2005.

In January of 2001, Turnham was promoted to her current position as associate athletic director. She oversees women’s sports in addition to handling the department’s personnel changes and serves as administrator for women’s basketball.

Before her present role, Turnham was an assistant athletic director for compliance for seven years. She was in charge of overseeing the athletic department’s compliance for all NCAA rules.

Turnham has also served as the chair of the Sun Belt Conference’s Senior Women’s Administrators and as a member of the league’s executive staff committee up until 2008. Additionally, Turnham served as a member of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee from 2004 to 2008 and was chair of that committee for the 2008 season.

In May of 2003, Turnham was honored by the All-American Football Foundation as the outstanding associate athletic director.

Turnham served as head coach of the women’s volleyball team for nine years while also serving as the only assistant coach with the women’s basketball team. During her tenure as a basketball coach at Middle Tennessee, Turnham earned eight OVC championships and six trips to the NCAA tournament and was responsible for recruiting possibly the best women’s basketball player, Kim Webb, to ever don a Lady Raider uniform. Webb’s jersey is retired and she is a member of the Blue Raider Hall of Fame.

In volleyball, Turnham is the third winningest coach in school history.

The 1980 graduate of Lipscomb spent four years playing college basketball before serving as an assistant coach at APSU.

Married to Kyle Turnham, the Mount Juliet, Tennessee, native enjoys spending time with her family and working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at MTSU. The couple has one son, Steven Charles.

Updated June 2012