Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest media conglomerate.^[2] Fortune's primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Forbes, which is also published bi-weekly, and Bloomberg Businessweek. The magazine is especially known for its annual features ranking companies by revenue. CNNMoney.com is the online home of Fortune, in addition to Money.

History and organization[link]

Fortune was founded by Time co-founder Henry Luce in February 1930, four months after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that marked the onset of the Great Depression. Briton Hadden, Luce's partner, wasn't enthusiastic about the idea—which Luce originally thought to title Power—but Luce went forward with it after Hadden's February 27, 1929 death (probably of septicemia).^[3]

Luce wrote a memo to the Time, Inc. board in November 1929, "We will not be over-optimistic. We will recognize that this business slump may last as long as an entire year."^[4]

Single copies of that first issue cost $1 at a time when the Sunday New York Times was only 5¢.^[4] At a time when business publications were little more than numbers and statistics printed in black and white, Fortune was an oversized 11"×14", using creamy heavy paper, and art on a cover printed by a special process.^[5] Fortune was also noted for its photography, featuring the work of Margaret Bourke-White and others. Walker Evans served as its photography editor from 1945–1965.

An urban legend says that art director T. M. Clelland mocked up the cover of the first issue with the $1 price because nobody had yet decided how much to charge; the magazine was printed before anyone realized it, and when people saw it for sale, they thought that the magazine must really have worthwhile content. In fact, there were 30,000 subscribers who had already signed up to receive that initial 184-page issue.^[5]

During the Great Depression, Fortune developed a reputation for its social conscience, for Walker Evans and Margaret Bourke-White's color photographs, and for a team of writers including James Agee, Archibald MacLeish, John Kenneth Galbraith, and Alfred Kazin, hired specifically for their writing abilities.

Fortune became an important leg of Luce's Time/Life media empire, which has grown to become Time Warner. For many years Fortune was published as a monthly, but as of January, 1978, it is published twice a month. It considers its purview the entire field of business, including the people, trends, companies, and ideas that characterize modern business.

Marshall Loeb was named managing editor in 1986 and stepped down in May 1994 upon hitting Time Inc.'s mandatory retirement age of 65, to be replaced by Walter Kiechel III, an executive editor at the publication. During his tenure at Fortune, Loeb was credited with expanding the traditional focus on business and the economy with added graphs, charts and tables, as well as the addition of articles on topics such as executive life, and social issues connected to the world of business, such as the effectiveness of public schools and on homelessness.^[6]

While circulation of the business magazines sector has apparently slumped since 2000,^[7] Fortune claims their circulation has risen from 833,000^[8] to 857,000^[9] in that period.

In October 2009, as a result of declining ad revenue and circulation, Fortune began publishing tri-weekly rather than bi-weekly.^[10][11]

[edit] Fortune lists

A theme of Fortune is its regular publishing of researched and ranked lists. In the human resources field, for example, their Best Companies to Work For list is an industry benchmark. Its most famous lists rank companies by gross revenue and profile their businesses:

• Fortune 500
• Fortune 1000
• Fortune Global 500
• Fortune India 500
• 40 under 40 (Fortune Magazine)

See also[link]

Media portal

• Fortune Battle of the Corporate Bands

References[link]

1. ^ ABC
2. ^ "AOL Eats Time Warner". http://www.media-alliance.org/article.php?story=20040514113031555. Retrieved 26 September 2010. 
3. ^ Henry Luce & His Time by Joseph Epstein, Commentary, Vol. 44, No. 5, November 1967
4. ^ ^{a b} Okrent, Daniel (September 19, 2005). "How the world really works". Fortune magazine. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/09/19/8272901/index.htm. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Background
6. ^ Deirdre, Carmody (May 2, 1994). "The Media Business; A Shaper of Magazines Retires". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E2DA1330F931A35756C0A962958260. Retrieved February 10, 2009. 
7. ^ "Magazine audience". stateofthenewsmedia.org. http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/narrative_magazines_audience.asp?cat=3&media=7. 
8. ^ "Circulation trends". magazine.org. http://www.magazine.org/circulation/circulation_trends_and_magazine_handbook/1603.cfm. 
9. ^ "Fortune media kit". http://www.timeinc.net/fortune/mediakit/circulation.html. 
10. ^ RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA (23 October 2009). "Fortune Magazine Will Drop From 25 to 18 Issues a Year". New York Times. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/fortune-magazine-will-drop-from-25-to-18-issues-a-year/. 
11. ^ Pérez-Peña, Richard (October 23, 2009). "Fortune media kit". The New York Times. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/fortune-magazine-will-drop-from-25-to-18-issues-a-year/. 

External links[link]

• Official website
• List of 2008 100 Best Companies To Work For
• Complete Downloadable List of Fortune 500/1000 Companies – 1955–2008
• Fortune Magazine covers since 2004

v t e Time Warner Inc. Board of directors Herbert Allison Jim Barksdale Stephen Bollenbach Jeffrey Bewkes Frank Caufield Robert Clark Mathias Döpfner Jessica Einhorn Reuben Mark Michael Miles Ken Novack Richard Parsons Deborah Wright Home Box Office HBO (Multiplex Asia) Cinemax (Multiplex Asia) HBO Films Warner Channel (Latin America Asia India) Time Inc. Magazines All You Coastal Living Cooking Light Entertainment Weekly Essence Fortune Golf Health InStyle Life.com Money People People en Español People StyleWatch Real Simple Southern Living Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated Kids Sunset Time Time for Kids This Old House IPC Media 25 Beautiful Homes Amateur Gardening Amateur Photographer Angler's Mail Beautiful Kitchens Chat Chat - It's Fate Chat passion Country Homes & Interiors Country Life Cycle Sport Cycling Active Cycling Weekly Decanter essentials European Boatbuilder Eventing Golf Monthly Homes & Gardens Horse Horse & Hound IBI Ideal Home InStyle Livingetc Look Marie Claire (UK) Motor Boat & Yachting Motor Boats Monthly Mountain Bike Rider Mousebreaker NME Now Nuts Practical Boat Owner Pick Me Up Rugby World Shooting Times Soaplife Sporting Gun Superyacht Business SuperYacht World The Field Shooting Gazette TrustedReviews TV & Satellite Week TV easy TVTimes Uncut VolksWorld What Digital Camera Wallpaper What's on TV Woman woman&home Woman's Own Woman's Weekly Yachting Monthly Yachting World World Soccer Other Maghound Oxmoor House Sunset Books Turner Broadcasting v t e Turner Broadcasting System (a subsidiary of Time Warner) North American television Boomerang · Cartoon Network (HD/VOD/SAP) · CNN (HD/VOD/SAP) · CNN Airport Network · HLN (HD/SAP) · NBA TV1 · Turner Classic Movies (HD/VOD/SAP) · TBS (HD/VOD/SAP) · TNT (HD/VOD/SAP) · truTV (HD) · WPCH TBS Europe Boomerang Central/Eastern Europe+Europe/Middle East/Africa · France · Germany · Italy · Pan-European · Spain · UK & Ireland Cartoon Network Arab World · Central/Eastern Europe · CN Too · Denmark · Europe/Middle East/Africa · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Italy · Netherlands · Nordic · Norway · Pan-European · Russia/SE Europe · Spain · Sweden · Turkey · UK & Ireland Others Boing France · Boing Italy2  · Cartoonito · CNN Türk · CNN+ · Nuts TV · TCM UK & Ireland · TCM 2 · TCM/Cartoon Network TBS Asia Pacific Boomerang Australia · Southeast Asia Cartoon Network Australia · China (on demand) · India · Japan · Pakistan · Philippines · Southeast Asia · Taiwan HBO HBO Asia · HBO Signature Asia · HBO Family Asia · HBO Hits · MAX Asia · Screen RED Asia Warner Channel WarnerTV Asia · WB Channel India Others China Entertainment Television · CNN-IBN · Imagine TV · Lumiere Movies · Pogo · Real · TCM Asia · truTV Asia TBS Latin America Cartoon Network · Boomerang · Tooncast · Chilevisión · CNN Chile · CNN en Español · Glitz* · HLN · HTV · Infinito · I.Sat · Space · TBS · TCM Classic Entertainment · TNT · truTV International CNN International TV production/distribution Cartoon Network Studios · Turner Entertainment · Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe Internet assets Cartoon Network Video · CNN.com · CNNMoney.com · Crime Library · The Smoking Gun · Super Deluxe · bamzu Former Kids' WB · Toonami · Toonami Jetstream (50% with Viz Media) · Turner South (now SportSouth) · WRET (now WCNC-TV) For computer GameTap ^Note 1 Actually owned by the NBA, but is operated by Turner. ^Note 2 Joint venture with Mediaset. Warner Bros. v t e Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (a subsidiary of Time Warner) Feature film production Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Warner Bros. Animation New Line Cinema Castle Rock Entertainment Television production and distribution The CW (co-owned with CBS) Toonzai (25%, with 4Kids Entertainment (50%) and CBS (25%)) New Line Television Shed Media (55.75%) Telepictures Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Television (Warner Horizon Television) Warner Bros. Television Distribution Warner Bros. International Television Warner Channel (with HBO Latin America Group) WarnerTV (with HBO Asia) WB Channel (with Turner International India Pvt Ltd) Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Monolith Productions TT Games Snowblind Studios Rocksteady Studios Turbine, Inc. NetherRealm Studios DC Entertainment, Inc. DC Comics imprints DC • DC Archive Editions • Johnny DC • Mad Books • Vertigo • Will Eisner Library Miscellaneous assets DC Direct Home video Warner Home Video Warner Premiere (Raw Feed) Warner Archive Collection Miscellaneous assets The WB Kids' WB! TMZ Momlogic Flixster (Rotten Tomatoes) WaterTower Music Key People Jack Warner Harry Warner Albert Warner Sam Warner Barry Meyer Website: warnerbros.com Miscellaneous MovieTickets.com Annual revenue  USD 43.6 billion (2005) Employees 87,850 (2005) Stock symbol NYSE: TWX Website timewarner.com

Marissa Ann Mayer
Born	(1975-05-30) May 30, 1975 (age 37) Wausau, Wisconsin United States North America
Residence	San Francisco, Palo Alto
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Stanford University
Occupation	Vice President of Location and Local Services, Google[1] Computer programming instructor, Stanford University
Employer	Google Stanford University
Board member of	San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum [2]
Spouse	Zachary Bogue (2009–present)[3]

Marissa Ann Mayer (born on May 30, 1975) is Vice President of Location and Local Services^[4] at Google. She has become one of the public faces of Google, providing a number of press interviews and appearing at events frequently to speak on behalf of the company.^[5][6]

Education and career[link]

After graduating from Wausau West High School in 1993,^[7] Mayer was one of two delegates from Wisconsin selected by the Governor of that state to attend the National Youth Science Camp in West Virginia.

Mayer received her B.S. in symbolic systems, graduating with honors, and M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University. For both degrees, she specialized in artificial intelligence. In 2009, the Illinois Institute of Technology granted Mayer an honoris causa doctorate degree honoring her pathfinding work in the field of search.^[8]

Mayer was the first female engineer hired at Google and one of their first 20 employees, joining the company in June 1999. Prior to joining Google, Mayer worked at the UBS research lab (Ubilab) in Zurich, Switzerland, and at SRI International in Menlo Park, California.^[9]

User interface (UI) and design work[link]

Mayer has notable public involvement with Google Search and Gmail, and can be considered significantly responsible for the success of these UIs^{[citation needed]}. Fortune magazine lists her as one of the 50 most powerful women in the world and the youngest woman ever to make the list.^[10]

Recognition[link]

Mayer has been named as one of Glamour Magazine’s 2009 Women of the Year.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Marissa Mayer on Charlie Rose
• Marissa Mayer at the Internet Movie Database
• Marissa Mayer at the Notable Names Database
• "The adventures of Marissa" February 27, 2008 in San Francisco Magazine.
• Video-Interview February 2007 (English, German intro, German subtitles)
• "Inside Google's New-Product Process" June 30, 2006 in Business Week Online.
• "Managing Google's Idea Factory" October 3, 2005 in Business Week Online.
• Good Experience interview October 15, 2002
• Marissa Mayer At Le Web: The (Almost) Complete Interview December 10, 2008 at techcrunch.com
• Digg Dialogg: Marissa Mayer July 30, 2009 at digg.com
• Marissa Mayer On 'Twitchy' Google, Her Cell Phone Number, And Maps May 25, 2011 in HuffPost Tech
• Cyberposium 12: Marissa Mayer Keynote Video
• Innovation, Sharing and Dreams, Marissa Mayer speaking at Stanford
• Google I/O '08 Keynote by Marissa Mayer
• cover story in the April 2012 issue of IEEE Spectrum (archived from the original on April 06, 2012)

Dr. Charles Elachi

Charles Asshur Al-Wadad Elachi (Arabic: شارل عشي‎, born April 18, 1947 in Lebanon^[1]) is the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), located in Pasadena, California. He has held this position since May 1, 2001 and also holds professorships in electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University (LAU).

Early life and education[link]

Elachi is the director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and vice president of the California Institute of Technology. -Primary and secondary education in Lebanon: Elachi studied at Collège des Apôtres, Jounieh from 1958 to 1962, and then at the Ecole Orientale, Zahlé, where he graduated in 1964 first in Lebanon in the Lebanese Baccalaureate (Mathématiques Elémentaires). -University studies: Elachi received a bachelor's degree (1968) in physics from University of Grenoble, France; the Diplome d'Ingenieur (1968) in engineering from the Polytechnic Institute, Grenoble; and a master's degree (1969) and doctorate (1971) in electrical sciences from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. He also has a master's degree (1983) in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA (1979) from the University of Southern California. He joined JPL in 1970. He is professor of electrical engineering and planetary science at Caltech.

Achievements[link]

Elachi has been a principal investigator on a number of research and development studies and flight projects sponsored by NASA. These include the Shuttle Imaging Radar series (science team leader), the Magellan imaging radar at Venus (team member), and the Cassini Titan radar (team leader). He is author of more than 230 publications in the fields of active microwave remote sensing and electromagnetic theory, and holds several patents in those fields. He taught the physics of remote sensing at Caltech from 1982 to 2001.

As JPL's director for space and Earth science programs from 1982 to 2000, he was responsible for the development of numerous flight missions and instruments for Earth observation, planetary exploration, and astrophysics.

In 1988, the Los Angeles Times selected him as one of Southern California's rising stars who will make a difference in L.A. In 1989, asteroid 1982 SU was renamed 4116 Elachi in recognition of his contribution to planetary exploration.

In 1989, Elachi was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and has served on a number of academy committees.

He has chaired a number of strategic planning committees for NASA. He has lectured in more than 20 countries about space exploration and Earth observation. He participated in a number of archeological expeditions in Egypt, Oman and China.

In 2010, he became a member of the University Advisory Board of KFUPM, Saudi Arabia.^[2]and serves on the board of KAUST, Saudi Arabia. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon.

In 2010, he received the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur award. ^[3]

In 2011, the Space Foundation bestowed its highest honor, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award, to Dr. Elachi.^[4]

Awards[link]

His numerous awards have included being honored as one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report (2006), in collaboration with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Royal Society of London's Massey Award (2006), Lebanon's Order of Cedars (2006), the American Task Force for Lebanon's Philip Habib Award for Distinguished Public Service (2006), the American Astronautical Society's Space Flight Award (2005), the National Defense Industrial Association's Bob Hope Distinguished Citizen Award (2005), NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2005), NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal (2004, 2002, 1994), NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (1982), NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1999), the Takeda Award (2002), the Wernher von Braun Award (2002), Dryden Award (2000), the Committee on Space Research's Nordberg Medal (1996), the Nevada Medal (1995), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Medal of Engineering Excellence (1992) and Geoscience and Remote Sensing Distinguished Achievement Award (1987), the W. T. Pecora Award (1985), and the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing's Autometric Award (1980 and 1982). He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the International Academy of Astronautics.

See also[link]

• NASA
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dr. Elachi's Official Biography from JPL
• Interview with Pan-Arabic Channel Al-Arabyia (In Arabic).
• America's Best Leaders: Charles Elachi
• TED Talks: Charles Elachi on the Mars Rovers at TED in 2008

Susan Walvius (born October 24, 1964) is the former head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of South Carolina. Her best success came in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, where she went 25-7 and 23-8 respectively. In those two seasons, the Gamecocks went 19-9 in SEC play. The 2002 team made it to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. On April 14, 2008, Walvius announced her resignation from South Carolina.^[1]

Walvius is currently the co-founder and co-CEO of SHEEX, Inc., a bed linen company specializing in sheets and pillowcases constructed from advanced athletic-performance fabrics.

Playing career[link]

Walvius attended Gar-Field Senior High School in Virginia, prior to attending Virginia Tech, where she was an all-American basketball player.

As a player at Virginia Tech, Walvius established herself as one of the most successful players to wear a Hokie uniform. The four-year letterwinner was named to Virginia Tech's All-Decade team, is the school leader in career blocked shots and ranks second in field goals made and third in scoring and rebounds. An All-Metro Conference selection in 1986, Walvius was named All-America by Converse and Street & Smith's. She graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in urban studies.

Early Coaching Career[link]

Walvius began her coaching career at Bradley University in 1986 as an assistant coach for two seasons. After spending a year in private business, she returned to coaching as an assistant at the University of Rhode Island from 1989 to 1990 before becoming the youngest head coach in the nation^[2] at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1990.

Walvius' ability to rebuild a program was first evident during the five years she spent at the helm of VCU. Only 25 years old when she was hired, Walvius coached at VCU from 1990 to 1995 and led the 1995 team to the Women's NIT after posting a 20-10 record. That 20-win season was just the second in the history of the VCU program. Walvius' effort did not go unnoticed as she was named the 1995 Virginia State Coach of the Year and was nominated for National Coach of the Year in District 3.

Leaving VCU in 1995, Walvius was the head coach at West Virginia University from 1995-1997. In just her second season at WVU, Walvius led the 1996-97 squad to its first winning season in five years with a 19-12 record. She displayed her ability as an outstanding recruiter by attracting a top-20 freshman class to West Virginia.

University of South Carolina[link]

Walvius was hired on April 28, 1997 as the head women's basketball coach at the University of South Carolina.

Susan Walvius led South Carolina into the postseason in five of her 11 seasons at helm, including five of the last seven. She took a floundering program to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments with an Elite Eight appearance in 2002, earning her SEC and WBCA District 3 Coach of the Year honors in just her fifth season on the job. Over her 11 seasons, she amassed a 165-160 record, giving her an 18-year career mark of 263-261.

Walvius built the program's success with a series of nationally-ranked recruiting classes. Between 2003 and 2008, she signed four classes ranked among the nation's top 20, including a 2008 group that was as high as seventh by Blue Star Index in the early signing period. In total, she attracted six top-25 recruiting classes to the South Carolina campus. The 2007-08 class was tabbed as the No. 18 group in the nation by The Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, and Blue Star Index rated the 2005-06 class as the 13th-best in the country. The 2003 class was ranked as the 10th-best class in the nation by All-Star Girls Report. The 1998-99 freshman class was named as the 10th-best in the country, while the freshmen who entered Carolina in the fall of 1999 were named the 22nd-best group in the country.

Under Walvius, the Gamecocks emerged as one of the best defensive and rebounding teams in the Southeastern Conference the last two years. In 2006-07, South Carolina led the SEC in blocked shots, rebounding margin and rebounds per game and ranked second in the league in field goal percentage defense and steals. In 2007-08, the Gamecocks were among the league's top five in all but one of those defensive categories as well.

With Walvius stalking the sidelines, Carolina turned the Colonial Center into a difficult place for opponents to play in 2006-07, compiling a 15-5 record at home that included an 80-48 pounding of in-state rival Clemson, a 95-35 wipeout of SEC foe Alabama and an 81-40 second-round Women's NIT victory over America East Conference champion Hartford. In fact, the Gamecocks outscored the opposition by an average margin of just under 22 points per game in home games played during the 2006-07 campaign en route to matching a school record total for home victories.

Walvius' crew posted a nine-game improvement in 2005-06 from the year prior, a mark that led all Southeastern Conference schools and ranked as the fifth-largest improvement in any of the power conferences (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Big East). A significant factor in the Gamecocks' improvement was suffocating defense, as Carolina led the SEC and ranked second nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding the opposition to 34.7 percent shooting. Walvius' team also ranked among the national leaders in blocked shots (third; 6.7 per game) and rebounding margin (fifth; 8.3 per game) and ranked among the top 30 teams nationally in scoring margin (16th; +12.2 points per game), field goal percentage (22nd; 45.0%) and scoring defense (26th; 56.8 points per game).

The Gamecocks set the school record for blocked shots and field goal percentage defense in 2004-05, then came back to break both of those records in addition to setting a new school mark for scoring defense in 2005-06.

During the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, Walvius posted a combined 48-15 mark with the Gamecocks and a 19-9 mark in the SEC. For her efforts, Walvius was honored as a finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year in each of those seasons.

Under Walvius in 2001-02, the Gamecocks recorded a 25-7 overall mark and finished second in the SEC with a 10-4 record. South Carolina advanced to the NCAA Tournament and into the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. The team achieved its first national ranking in 10 years and finished the season ranked sixth in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. For her achievements, Walvius was selected as the SEC Coach of the Year by her peers and by the Associated Press, and was named as the WBCA District 3 Coach of the Year.

In 2002-03, Walvius directed South Carolina to a 23-8 record and a 9-5 SEC mark. Ranked 18th in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, South Carolina secured a 20-win season for the second consecutive year and posted the school's first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 12 years. The Gamecocks defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga in the first round, marking the first back-to-back first round NCAA Tournament victories in South Carolina's history. The Gamecocks fell in the second round to host Penn State.

To celebrate the team's Elite Eight appearance in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, the Gamecock women were also chosen to open the state-of-the art Colonial Center on Nov. 22, 2002. The inaugural game attracted a state of South Carolina basketball record crowd of 17,712 to witness Carolina's victory over in-state rival Clemson. The record attendance was also the fifth-highest figure in the NCAA during the 2002-03 season.

While at South Carolina, Walvius worked hard to establish South Carolina's reputation as one of the up-and-coming women's basketball programs in the country. Her dedication to the program was critical to helping build top-notch facilities for the student-athletes, renewing the team's focus on academic success and developing the Mentors Program. Walvius is extremely involved with the marketing of the team and is a frequent guest speaker in the community and on radio and television.

Thanks to her work behind the scenes and on the sidelines, Gamecock home game attendance tripled. During the 2001-02 season, South Carolina established another precedent by selling out the Carolina Coliseum for the January 17th game against Tennessee. The announced attendance of 12,168 was the largest at any Carolina Coliseum sporting event all year.

Walvius' teams consistently achieved a high grade-point average and set a new team record with a 3.347 mark in the Spring 2005 semester. In addition, seven Gamecock players were named to the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll in 2005. Carolina led the league and set a new school record by placing 10 players on the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll in 2007, just one year after leading the conference with eight honor roll selections in 2006.

Walvius also recognized the importance of student-athletes receiving guidance in the real world before graduation, as she engineered the Mentors Program, which teamed up female leaders of the Columbia community with members of the Gamecock basketball team to further their real-world education, cultural and networking skills. The mentors helped the student-athletes work on their cultural and business education for life after basketball.

Coaching Timeline[link]

South Carolina, head coach 1997-2008

West Virginia, head coach 1995-97

VCU, head coach 1990-95

Rhode Island, assistant coach 1989-90

Bradley, assistant coach 1986-88

Launching SHEEX[link]

In 2008, Walvius and former South Carolina assistant Michelle Marciniak founded SHEEX, Inc., a company that is said to offer "the world's first athletic-performance sheets".^[3] Constructed from materials commonly found in modern athletic wear, SHEEX provide similar moisture-wicking, temperature-control, breathability and stretch not found in traditional cotton sheeting.^[4]

Notable[link]

Susan Walvius coached three players who went on to play in the WNBA after their careers at South Carolina. Under Walvius, the Gamecocks advanced to the Elite Eight in 2002 with Walvius earning SEC Coach of the Year recognition. Carolina had consecutive top-20 finishes in 2002 and 2003 with Walvius at the helm. Under Walvius, South Carolina made five trips to the postseason in her last seven years, including consecutive postseason appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In her 11th year at Carolina, Walvius was the fourth-longest tenured SEC coach at her current school, trailing only Pat Summitt (34 years, Tennessee), Andy Landers (29 years, Georgia) and Sharon Fanning (13 years, Mississippi State). Under Walvius' direction, the Gamecocks were one of the SEC's elite defensive teams. Carolina has ranked in the top three in the conference each of the last four years in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots. Walvius led Carolina to a nine-game improvement and a trip to the postseason in 2005-06. Walvius was responsible for the inception of the Mentors Program, in which successful women from the community work with South Carolina's female student-athletes to help them achieve their goals both in and out of the classroom. From 2004 through 2008, Walvius' players have appeared on the SEC Winter Sports Academic Honor Roll 38 times, a figure that leads all SEC schools during that time. In fact, South Carolina's 38 honorees is more than twice as many as seven SEC schools during that same time (Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.) During the 2001-02 season, the Gamecocks were ranked in the top 10 nationally for the first time since the 1981-82 season.

External links[link]

• Walvius bio
• SHEEX.com Official Site

References[link]

1. ^ ESPN report on Walvius resignation
2. ^ Walvius' SHEEX biography
3. ^ Marlin Magazine
4. ^ SHEEX features

Michelle Marciniak

Personal information
Born	October 29, 1973
Medal record Women's Basketball Competitor for the  United States Pan American Games Bronze 1999 Winnipeg Team Competition

Michelle Marciniak (born October 29, 1973 in Macungie, Pennsylvania) is a former All American collegiate and professional basketball player, who played point guard in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). As a floor general, Marciniak competed for two National Championships during her three year career at the University of Tennessee. Michelle led the Tennessee Lady Vols to their 4th National Championship and was named MVP in the 1996 Final Four held in Charlotte, NC. She was most recently the recruiting coordinator/assistant coach of the women's basketball team at the University of South Carolina from 2003-2008. Marciniak was responsible for two back to back top recruiting classes, rated #18 in 2007 and #7 in 2008, the highest ranked class ever recruited at South Carolina.

Marciniak participated on the USA team as part of the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. The team went 4–3 and earned a bronze medal.^[1]

Marciniak is currently the co-founder and co-CEO of SHEEX, Inc., a bed linen company specializing in sheets and pillowcases constructed from advanced athletic-performance fabrics.

Allentown Central Catholic High School[link]

Marciniak was the top player in the nation during her high school senior year, named by Parade Magazine and Gatorade as the 1991 National High School Player of the Year as a senior at Allentown Central Catholic High School in Allentown. At Allentown Central Catholic, she competed in the highly respected East Penn Conference (the forerunner to the Lehigh Valley Conference), where she scored 3,025 points for Central Catholic. Her No. 23 jersey has since been retired by the school in recognition of her extraordinary high school basketball achievements. Sports Illustrated wrote about Marcinak playing with a picture of Michael Jordan in her sock, while Michelle was just a junior in high school, in an article titled "She's the Ponytailed Princess of Hoop."

University of Notre Dame and University of Tennessee[link]

After a year at the University of Notre Dame, Marciniak transferred to the University of Tennessee, where she quickly became a leader of the dominant University of Tennessee Lady Vols women's basketball team under head coach Pat Summitt. Summitt had recruited her in high school and in fact, went into labor as she was sitting in the Marciniak's home on a recruiting trip. Summitt quickly wrapped up the visit and flew back to Knoxville to give birth to her son, Tyler. "Spinderella" as Marciniak was affectionately known because of her free wheeling, spinning and slashing style, became a crowd favorite at Tennessee. She scored over 1,000 points and still is in Tennessee's top ten all-time in assists and three-point scoring, after only three years of play.

With Marciniak at point guard, the Lady Vols won consecutive Southeastern Conference championships in 1995 and 1996. In the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, Tennessee came in second to the Connecticut Huskies in 1995. The next season, Tennessee wasn't expected to be as strong, but lost just four games during the regular season and eventually returned to the Final Four, where the Lady Vols earned a rematch with UConn. Marciniak led the team to an 88-83 overtime victory, then avenged an earlier loss to Georgia to claim Tennessee's fourth national championship.^[2] During the season, Marciniak became the focused leader and played a methodical style of basketball that Pat Summitt demanded from her point guards. Marciniak was chosen the Final Four's Most Valuable Player for her inspired play. She graduated in 1996 with a degree in psychology.

Professional career[link]

Marciniak began her professional career in the women's American Basketball League, playing all two and half seasons of that league's existence. She played for the ABL's Portland Power, Long Beach Stingrays, and Nashville Noise. After her first season as a professional, Marciniak was a first team All Star in a league loaded with talent. Marciniak was signed by the WNBA's expansion Portland Fire in 2000 where she was an integral part of Portland's success. She then^[when?] signed with the Seattle Storm eight days later. Michelle found her home in Seattle the next three seasons while playing for the Storm. She was a fan favorite, and received the WNBA Community Service Award due to the countless hours she put in to bring fans into KeyArena.

More significant was her extremely hard-nosed play on the court, as a nationally televised tussle with Los Angeles Sparks player Latasha Byears^[3] earned Marciniak a reputation as the Storm player that opponents least wished to foul. Byears intentionally threw a ball at Marciniak's face, and Marciniak, in response, charged the much larger and stronger Byears.

Marciniak retired at 29 years old, after the Storm's 2002 season, to become an assistant coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in the powerhouse SEC Conference, where she had played as a collegian. Marciniak served as an assistant on the staff of head coach Susan Walvius from 2003-2008.^[4] She is also an occasional color analyst for WNBA and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball games on ESPN Radio and other media outlets.

Launching SHEEX[link]

In 2008, Marciniak and Walvius founded SHEEX, Inc., a company that is said to offer "the world's first athletic-performance sheets".^[5] Constructed from materials commonly found in modern athletic wear, SHEEX provide similar moisture-wicking, temperature-control, breathability and stretch not found in traditional cotton sheeting.^[6]

References[link]

1. ^ "THIRTEENTH PAN AMERICAN GAMES -- 1999". USA Basketball. http://www.usabasketball.com/news.php?news_page=wpag_1999. Retrieved 2009-08-28. 
2. ^ 1995-96 Lady Vols
3. ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2003642597_uwom30.html
4. ^ Marciniak's SHEEX biography
5. ^ Marlin Magazine
6. ^ SHEEX features

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Michelle Marciniak biography at University of South Carolina Athletics Web Site
• Michelle Marciniak at WNBA.com
• SHEEX.com Official Site