Clemson's Fran P. Mainella receives Neag School of Education alumni society award

Published: May 24, 2011

CLEMSON — Clemson University visiting scholar Fran P. Mainella received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Neag School of Education Alumni Society of the University of Connecticut. Mainella was recognized at the 13th annual awards dinner of the Neag School of Education on May 14.

Mainella teaches in the Clemson University parks, recreation and tourism management department. Previously, she served nearly six years as the 16th director and the first woman to lead the National Park Service. For 12 years, she was director of Florida’s State Parks, which was recognized as the best state park system in the country. She also was executive director of the Florida Recreation and Park Association and president of both the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Association of State Park Directors.

Before joining its faculty, Clemson University presented Mainella with its Walter T. Cox Award for sustained achievement in public service and also named an award in her honor that encourages women to pursue conservation careers. The award is presented every two years during the George B. Hartzog Environmental Awards luncheon.

The American Recreation Coalition presented Mainella with the Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award. In 2006, she was awarded the William Penn Mott Jr. Award for Excellence by the National Society for Park Resources. Mainella was presented the 2007 Pugsley Award, the highest award given by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. Most recently, she was selected as the Metcalf Lecturer for State University of New York-Cortland and first-ever Ralph Steele Lecturer for East Carolina University. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 the Clemson University board of trustees presented her with an award for faculty excellence.

Mainella is co-chair of the US Play Coalition; chairwoman of the Public Lands Advisory Council to the National Environmental Education Foundation; a member of Newsweek’s Environmental Advisory Board; a fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration; a member of the board of directors of the Children and Nature Network; on the board of directors of the National Park Trust; chairwoman of the National Recreation and Park Foundation; and a national speaker on “nature deficit disorder,” play and parks and recreation.

Mainella has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, and a master’s degree and an honorary doctorate from Central Connecticut State College. 

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Parks, recreation and tourism management department
Established in 1966, Clemson’s PRTM department is one of the largest and oldest of its type in North America. The department has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the National Park Service and other federal and state land-management agencies.