By Jeff Wilson
CARBONDALE – After visiting the Southern Illinois University Carbondale campus for the first time in 52 years, Elaine Gazdeck was inspired to make a transformative impact on women’s sports.
The 1972 graduate pledged a $100,000 planned gift to establish the Elaine Gazdeck Women’s Sports Empowerment Scholarship Endowment Fund, which will benefit women’s basketball and women’s golf.
“I want young women who choose to go to SIU to have the means to do that,” she said. “It’s helping somebody have an opportunity to see what their potential is academically and athletically.”
Gazdeck is a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma, commonly called Tri Sigma, and she has periodically gathered with her sorority sisters.
“We have always said ‘Let’s go back,’ but for one reason or another, it didn’t happen,” she said. “Then we met in October in Quincy, and I was able to come down for a visit.”
Kat Martin, director of development for Saluki Athletics, set up a full schedule for Gazdeck during her short trip to Carbondale.
“She had a great itinerary. We had lunch, went to basketball practice and met with coaches and team members. I had a great talk with (Women’s Basketball) Coach Kelly Bond-White,” she said. “I had dinner with (Women’s Golf) Coach Rory Weinfurther, went to a softball game, volleyball match, and the football game. I had breakfast with (Athletic Director) Tim Leonard and Kat. It was clear that Tim really cares about women’s sports.”
Gazdeck played sports in high school and started golfing at an early age with her father.
“When I was young, my father got me golf lessons. He was off work on Wednesdays and had no one to golf with, so he asked me ‘Wanna golf?’ So, I went with him on Wednesdays,” she said.
Coming full circle
Growing up in a suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio, Gazdeck wanted to attend college out of state, but her parents didn’t want her to stray far. She wanted to major in botany and narrowed her focus to three universities – Miami of Ohio, Oregon State, and SIU.
“Oregon was too far, so the summer before my senior year of high school, my father rented a camper and we camped at Crab Orchard Lake,” she said. “We got to see campus, and my parents liked it. Tuition was a little less expensive than at Miami of Ohio, so we decided to give it a try. I received a scholarship for the first year, which helped.”
After studying botany for three years, she changed her major to recreation and graduated from what is now the College of Health and Human Sciences. She moved to Chicago and took a job with a pharmaceutical company, working to help its veterinary division understand and meet new drug regulations. After about 10 years, she switched to human pharmaceutical development. She worked in Kansas City, San Francisco, and then took a “gap year” and traveled across the U.S. and Canada. She settled in Colorado in 1988, continuing a career in pharmaceutical development helping start-up companies navigate the regulatory pathway in drug development.
“I had a great career. I worked during the time that pharmaceutical development embraced new technologies to help people. It was good times,” she said.
Outside of work, she has lived an active lifestyle, continuing to golf, travel, ski and kayak. She also became involved with sled dog racing, working with a team in the 2008 Iditarod.
“In sports, you learn how to work as a team. A lot of life skills come from it,” she said. “I want to give young women opportunities to develop these valuable skills.”
During her visit to Southern, Gazdeck also made a trip to the spot where her Saluki journey started.
“I drove out to Crab Orchard. I wanted to see where it all began. I sat by the lake. It was pretty nostalgic,” she said. “I had such a good experience at SIU and made lifelong friends. With this being a planned gift, I won’t be here to see it manifest, but that’s OK. I just want women to succeed.”
To learn more about planned giving, visit siufgiving.org.