• Head coach of the Pandas Volleyball team for 10 years.
• Director of Women's Intramurals, which evolved into the Campus and Community Recreation.
• One of the founding members of the Alberta High Schools Athletic Association.
• A major contributor to the establishment of the Health and Physical Education Specialist Council and to curricular changes in physical education for Alberta schools.
• Named Commonwealth Games Woman of the Year (1977) and presented a Government of Alberta Achievement Award (1978).

The building of outstanding athletic programs requires the dedication and commitment by dynamic leaders. Audrey Carson-Ackroyd (BEd '58; MA '63 UNC) is such a builder and leader. She joined the faculty of the School of Physical Education in 1956 and for the next 12 years served the University in many roles. For 10 years she coached the Pandas Volleyball Team and was instrumental in moving this sport from recreational play to a highly competitive activity. Under her leadership, the Pandas were perennial Western Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union champions. Her years as head coach were the formative years for the Pandas Volleyball program and contemporary University of Alberta volleyball has been built upon the base she created. Her contributions to the sport of volleyball were not constrained to the University environment. In 1967, Canada introduced the Winter Games. Mrs. Ackroyd was named as the coach of Alberta's women's volleyball team. With 6 of her Pandas forming the team's nucleus, she added 6 other provincial players and molded the group into a strong team. Despite major health problems encountered by players, her team captured the bronze medal.

In addition to her leadership role as a coach, Audrey also contributed to the University of Alberta by serving as the Director of Women's intramurals. The programs and the organizational structure which she created during her 10 year tenure have served as the base upon which has been built the Canadian award-winning Campus Recreation program.

Audrey's capacity and versatility as a builder and leader has extended beyond the University to the province. She is one of the founding members of the Alberta High Schools Athletic Association, a major contributor to the development of track and field athletics in the province (the Provincial Junior Girls' Aggregate trophy has been named in her honour), and a school physical education curriculum specialist.

Her specialized knowledge resulted in an invitation from the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) to join a committee charged with the task of improving the professional qualifications of health and physical educators in the province. One of the outcomes of their work was the establishment of the Health and Physical Education Specialist Council of the ATA. Building strength on strength, the Department of Education recruited Mrs. Ackroyd to aid in the creation of a plan to assess all aspects of fitness, sport and recreation in the schools of the province. Her work with this group produced curricular changes for the schools of Alberta.

From 1973 to 1978 Mrs. Ackroyd served as the chair of the Edmonton Commonwealth Games Education Committee. The outstanding curriculum materials created by this group produced a world-class teaching/learning environment for Alberta schools using our Commonwealth neighbors as a basis for study. Her contributions to the Games were recognized in 1977 when she was named Commonwealth Games Woman of the Year and again in 1978 when her work was celebrated through a Government of Alberta Achievement Award.

Audrey Carson-Ackroyd is an outstanding builder and leader. For 6 years, following her work with the Commonwealth Games, Audrey served on the Governing Council of Athabasca University and for 3 of those years she chaired the Staff Relations Committee. The foundations she helped to create have served the University of Alberta well in its quest for excellence.