Dailey Awarded Wake Forest Medallion of Merit
1/31/2024 10:27:00 AM | Women's Golf
The renowned Wake Forest head coach has added another accolade to her storied career.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Legendary Wake Forest administrator and head women's golf coach Dianne Dailey has been named a Medallion of Merit honoree by Wake Forest University.
The Medallion of Merit is the highest honor given by Wake Forest and is presented annually for outstanding achievement and distinguished contribution to the University. Previous recipients include presidents of the University, trustees, benefactors and retired faculty and administrators.
Dailey retired as head coach of the women's golf program in the spring of 2018, after a stellar 30-year career, earning a spot in the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame and launching the careers of a stream of alumni who became professional golfers. Additionally, she was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
In 1988, Dr. Gene Hooks named Dailey the director of women's athletics in addition to being the head women's golf coach at Wake Forest. She replaced Dot Casey who had retired after 14 years as the women's athletic director and took over the golf program from Mary Beth McGirr. Dailey was the first full-time athletic department staff member to serve in either role, and served the dual positions until 1999 when she relinquished the athletic director role in order to focus on coaching the golf team.
Her 30-year tenure as a head coach is the second-longest in school history behind only Jesse Haddock's 32 seasons. During that transformational tenure, she led the Demon Deacons to 30 team titles and 38 individual titles. Dianne's women's golf program won four ACC Championships and she led the Deacons to 15 NCAA Championships while being recognized with four ACC Coach of the Year honors. Individually during her tenure, Dailey coached 27 All-Americans, 39 All-ACC selections, five ACC Players of the Year and four ACC Freshmen of the Year including 2018 NCAA Champion Jennifer Kupcho. Dailey's five ACC Players of the Year were two-time winner Stephanie Neill Harner ('95), Laura Philo Diaz ('97), Nuria Clau ('03) and Natalie Sheary ('11).
Dailey led the Deacons to ACC titles in 1994, 1995, 2009 and 2010 while taking the club to an NCAA regional berth every year from 1993 to 2018.
One of the biggest impacts Dailey made was listening to the student-athletes off the course. She met them where they were and was able to adjust to how they learned best. She was able to maintain her long-standing success by changing teaching techniques with the times and technology.
What Dailey has always found special about Wake Forest was the very supportive environment the student-athletes had. Everyone helps them work toward their goals and be successful. She was also able to push the program forward with the world class facilities, the best on-campus facility in the country, which dons her name at the Dianne Dailey Learning Center.
A 1971 graduate of Salem College with a master's degree in education from N.C. State University, she also played golf professionally for eight years before coming to Wake Forest to coach in 1988. The program's state-of-the-art Dianne Dailey Learning Center was named for her.
What They're Saying About Coach Dailey
John Currie (1993 Graduate & Wake Forest AD, 2019-Present)
The Medallion of Merit is the highest honor given by Wake Forest and is presented annually for outstanding achievement and distinguished contribution to the University. Previous recipients include presidents of the University, trustees, benefactors and retired faculty and administrators.
Dailey retired as head coach of the women's golf program in the spring of 2018, after a stellar 30-year career, earning a spot in the National Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame and launching the careers of a stream of alumni who became professional golfers. Additionally, she was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.
In 1988, Dr. Gene Hooks named Dailey the director of women's athletics in addition to being the head women's golf coach at Wake Forest. She replaced Dot Casey who had retired after 14 years as the women's athletic director and took over the golf program from Mary Beth McGirr. Dailey was the first full-time athletic department staff member to serve in either role, and served the dual positions until 1999 when she relinquished the athletic director role in order to focus on coaching the golf team.
Her 30-year tenure as a head coach is the second-longest in school history behind only Jesse Haddock's 32 seasons. During that transformational tenure, she led the Demon Deacons to 30 team titles and 38 individual titles. Dianne's women's golf program won four ACC Championships and she led the Deacons to 15 NCAA Championships while being recognized with four ACC Coach of the Year honors. Individually during her tenure, Dailey coached 27 All-Americans, 39 All-ACC selections, five ACC Players of the Year and four ACC Freshmen of the Year including 2018 NCAA Champion Jennifer Kupcho. Dailey's five ACC Players of the Year were two-time winner Stephanie Neill Harner ('95), Laura Philo Diaz ('97), Nuria Clau ('03) and Natalie Sheary ('11).
Dailey led the Deacons to ACC titles in 1994, 1995, 2009 and 2010 while taking the club to an NCAA regional berth every year from 1993 to 2018.
One of the biggest impacts Dailey made was listening to the student-athletes off the course. She met them where they were and was able to adjust to how they learned best. She was able to maintain her long-standing success by changing teaching techniques with the times and technology.
What Dailey has always found special about Wake Forest was the very supportive environment the student-athletes had. Everyone helps them work toward their goals and be successful. She was also able to push the program forward with the world class facilities, the best on-campus facility in the country, which dons her name at the Dianne Dailey Learning Center.
A 1971 graduate of Salem College with a master's degree in education from N.C. State University, she also played golf professionally for eight years before coming to Wake Forest to coach in 1988. The program's state-of-the-art Dianne Dailey Learning Center was named for her.
What They're Saying About Coach Dailey
John Currie (1993 Graduate & Wake Forest AD, 2019-Present)
- "Dianne Dailey epitomizes everything that is right about Wake Forest University as she is a selfless leader who has mentored and impacted hundreds of students throughout her transformational tenure in Winston-Salem. Her resume of championships and individual accolades for her student-athletes only tell part of the immeasurable impact she played at Wake Forest. Along with Dot Casey and Marge Crisp, Dianne helped blaze a trail for women's athletics at Wake and she is truly someone that has inspired those around her for generations, including me as a young administrator 30 years ago. I can think of no more deserving recipient for the Medallion of Merit honor than Coach Dailey."
- "I know no one more deserving to be honoren than Dianne Dailey with the Wake Forest Medallion of Merit. Coach Dailey has been a mentor and friend to me my entire adult life as well as every student-athlete she has coached. Because of this mentorship and friendship, all of us become better people, golfers and Wake Forest supporters. Women's athletics as a whole, especially women's golf, is more prosperous than ever and I believe it is because of the continuous effort Dianne Dailey pushed for at every opportunity that was presented. Wake Forest University is an inimitable place and Dianne Dailey has been an integral part of developing this reputation within our community. I am honored to know and be a friend of Coach Dailey."
- "Dianne was an excellent player in her day and has elevated the game so much as a player, coach and advocate. Coming into college golf when the women's game was still coming into its own, she won multiple ACC titles and made Wake Forest women's golf relevant and continued to shape the program into a perennial power. I enjoyed every moment of working alongside her for 20+ years and am so proud of all her accomplishments. There is no one more deserving than her."
- "Dianne Dailey had an incredible career at Wake Forest. For three decades, her passion built our women's golf program into one of the best in the nation. When you look back at the history of Demon Deacon women's golf; the ACC Championships, the NCAA Championship appearances, the team and individual victories; that is the legacy Dianne Dailey left when she retired following the 2018 season. Wake Forest is forever grateful to her leadership and the Medallion of Merit is a well-deserved honor to commemorate her immeasurable impact."
- "Coach Dailey is a legend within women's golf and the Wake Forest community. Her pride in representing Wake Forest was contagious and brought our team together as she led us to an ACC championship. She embedded the importance of excelling both on and off the golf course, and cared for her student athletes as though they were family. It was an honor to play for her during my four years at Wake Forest."
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