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AUSTIN, Texas -- A class of six former female University of Texas standouts and one distinguished former administrator will be inducted as members of the sixth class of the UT Women's Athletics Hall of Honor on Friday, November 11, as announced Tuesday by the Hall of Honor Committee.

The six inductees were nominated in the spring of 2005, and selection was conducted by the 21-member UT Women's Athletics Hall of Honor Selection Committee. The Class of 2005 inductees is as follows:

Shola Lynch, an All-America track and field performer and six-time Southwest Conference champion in the middle distances from 1988-92;

Sharon (Neugebauer) Shepard (1981-84), a dual sport-athlete in track and field and volleyball who was a member of 1981 AIAW national championship volleyball squad and the 1982 AIAW national champion outdoor track team;

Dr. Sheila Rice, who served in the UT Women's Athletics administration from 1977-97 and is credited with developing the highly-renown women's athletics academic support program;

Cynthia Sampson Shipper (1978-82) who was a top-flight tennis standout in the AIAW varsity tennis era;

And Jackie (Swaim) DiNardo, basketball team standout from 1978-81 who went on to star in the USA Basketball program and was the first UT basketball player to earn a gold medal in USA Basketball competition.

Additionally, a Women's Hall of Honor "Legacy Award" will be given this year to Betsy Rawls, winner of 55 Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournament in her Hall of Fame golf career and who was a student at The University of Texas from 1947-50.

"This is yet another distinguished group of Texas Exes who rightly deserve to be recognized in our Women's Hall of Honor," noted Chris Plonsky, Texas Women's Athletics Director. "Each one brought national recognition to our program and university as student-athletes. In the case of Dr. Sheila Rice, she helped establish the model academic support program for intercollegiate athletics. Everyone is familiar with the accomplishments of Hall of Fame golfer Betsy Rawls, who was a standout student at Texas before embarking on her professional LPGA career. We are thrilled to have these six individuals join the other illustrious student-athletes, coaches and administrators who have been inducted into our Hall of Honor the past five years."

The University will holds its 2005 Hall of Honor luncheon and ceremony on Friday, November 11 at UT's Frank Erwin Center. The luncheon will begin at the Frank Erwin Center's Lone Star Room with an 11:15 a.m. social, followed by the induction ceremony which begins at promptly at 11:45 p.m.

Both the UT Women's Hall of Honor and UT Men's Longhorn Hall of Honor will hold their induction ceremonies the weekend of Friday-Sunday, November 11-13. Ceremonies will be held in conjunction with the Kansas football game (Nov. 12) where all the women's and men's Hall of Honor inductees will be introduced.

The following are brief biographical sketches of the UT Women's Athletics Hall of Honor Class of 2005 inductees:

Shola Lynch (1988-92) Track & Field
An All-America track and field performer, Shola was a six-time Southwest Conference champion in the middle distances ... She earned her first All-America honor by finishing sixth at the 1989 NCAA indoor meet as a freshman ... Lynch added two more All-America honors as a senior by finishing fifth in the outdoor 800 meters and helping the 4x800-meter relay team to a third-place finish indoors.... Lynch also won six Southwest Conference championships, sweeping the indoor and outdoor 800 meter titles in 1988 while adding four more titles in 1992 (indoor and outdoor 800 meters, indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 meters)... She ranks sixth on Texas' all-time list in the indoor 800 meters (2:07.06).

A native of New York City, Lynch was a Plan II major (honors) major at UT, Shola went on to earn her master's degree in American history from the University of California ... She is now an acclaimed documentary film maker, director and producer, and her work has been recognized at prestigious events including the Sundance Film Festival, South by Southwest Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards ... Lynch made her directorial debut in February 2005 with "CHISHOLM '72 - Unbought & Unbossed"; the documentary is about Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and to run for president... "CHISHOLM '72" appeared on PBS's distinguished P.O.V. Series and has been released on DVD/Homevideo by Twentieth Century Fox... Lynch was recipient of a 2005 Outstanding Young Texas Exes Award to recognize her professional achievements as a filmmaker and her loyalty to the university.

Sharon (Neugebauer) Shepard (1981-84) 1981-84 Volleyball; 1982 Track & Field
Currently resides in nearby Kyle, Texas with her family ... A dual sport-athlete in track and field and volleyball, Neugebauer starred on the 1981 AIAW national championship volleyball squad and the 1982 AIAW national champion outdoor track team as one of UT's first dual-sport athletes ... She was member of the 1982 AIAW champion 3,200-meter relay team... A four-year standout in volleyball, she served as captain her senior year in 1984 and still holds several individual match records for solo blocks (9) and total blocks (18), both set in 1982 and is the career leader in solo blocks (279)... Neugebauer helped Texas dominate Southwest Conference play and emerge as a national force ... She led the Longhorns to four SWC titles and to the 1984 NCAA Championship regional final (final eight) and to regional semifinals in 1982 and 1983... Individually, Sharon was named the 1982 Southwest Conference Volleyball Player of the Year and to the All-SWC First Team and also earned All-Conference honors in 1983 and 1984.

Dr. Sheila Rice (1977-97) UT Women's Athletics Administrator
Dr. Rice joined the UT Women's Athletic Department in 1977 and spent 20 years developing an academic support program for the women athletes ... She came to UT when Texas was in its third year of establishing and developing its Women's Athletic Department ...For 11 years (1977 until 1988), Dr. Rice was the SOLE member of the athletic academic staff... The student-athlete count was over 100, and she personally was responsible for class registration, graduation tracking, etc., in addition to handling all admission/eligibility/housing/meal plan/financial aid duties.

In 1981, Dr. Rice piloted the first structured academic study program with women's basketball, hiring an academic coach... The success of this effort expanded to all the teams for the 1982-83 academic year... By 1990, the study program had moved to the Bible Academic Center and employed 20-plus academic coaches and 80 tutors each semester... As a result of Dr. Rice's leadership in the academic area, the UT women student-athletes set the standard nationally with athletic and academic success going hand in hand... In her tenure, Texas had: 6 Phi Beta Kappa's; 7 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients; and 18 National Academic All-America honorees ... For those female student-athletes who completed their athletic eligibility, 96 percent graduated in Dr. Rice's tenure at UT.

Cynthia Sampson Shipper (1978-82) Tennis
A standout player for early UT tennis teams, Cynthia served as co-captain as a junior and senior and was team MVP as a senior in 1981-82 ... She was an all-regional selection in 1981 and led Texas to the 1981 Southwest Conference Tournament title (prior to the formation of the SWC playing a regular season schedule) ...Cynthia was undefeated in doubles play in 1980... Currently, Shipper resides in the Dallas area and is an executive with Wilson Sports in its Golf & Racket Sports division.

Jackie (Swaim) DiNardo (1978-81) Basketball
Swaim played two years for Texas (1978-79, 1980-81) and was a medical redshirt in 1979-80 ... She helped Texas to a 37-4 mark in 1978-79 and to a third-place finish at the AIAW Regionals and a No. 4 ranking nationally - which was UT's highest ever at that point ... Swaim was co-captain of the 1980-81 team which went 28-8 and also placed third at the AIAW Regionals ... Despite playing just two years, she ranks No. 16 in all-time Texas scoring (1,405 points, 16.5 ppg average) ... Jackie was Texas' leading scorer and rebounder and steals leader as a senior (1980-81) with 16.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game, earning team MVP honors ... In the Texas career record book she ranks: No. 3, scoring average (16.5 ppg); No. 3, career field goal percentage (.578); No. 10, career free throws made (275) ... Jackie was the second Texas player (following Retha Swindell) to excel at the United States Basketball level and was the first UT basketball player to earn a gold medal while competing with USA Basketball ... She earned a gold medal as a member of the 1979 U.S. World Championship Team and earned a silver medal as a member of the 1979 U.S. Pan American Games Team ... DiNardo currently resides in Danbury, Connecticut with her family and is a guidance counselor and highly-successful girls basketball coach at Danbury High School.

Betsy Rawls (1947-50) 2005 UT Women's Hall of Honor Legacy Award recipient
Born May 4, 1928, Rawls currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware... One of the most illustrious women's golfers in U.S. History, Rawls is a LPGA Hall of Famer ... At Texas, she majored in both physics and math ... Rawls did not start playing golf until she was 17 and then was coached and mentored by legendary golf mentor and Austinite Harvey Penick ... Rawls won the 1949 Texas Amateur just four years after taking up the game and repeated that triumph in 1950... Her amateur win list also includes the 1949 Trans-National and 1950 Broadmoor Invitational.

Rawls went to play in the LPGA in 1951 and became an immediate star, winning three events in her rookie season, including the prestigious U.S. Open ... She won 55 LPGA golf tournaments in the 1950's-1960's, including eight major championships, and ranks fourth in all-time LPGA victories to this day ... Rawls led the Tour in victories in 1952, 1957, and 1959... Rawls won multiple events every year from 1951 to 1962 and won at least one event from 1951 to 1966 ... In 1957 she won 10 tournaments, and equaled that in 1959 as she won 10 of the 26 LPGA events that year ... She was the leading money winner in 1959, earning almost $27,000 to set a new single-season earnings record by almost $6,500 (That record stood until 1963).

Rawls was one of six inductees in the 1960 inaugural class of the LPGA Hall of Fame ... After retiring in 1975, Rawls began a six-year tenure as the LPGA's Tournament Director, serving in that capacity during the Tour's dynamic growth period... Armed with a commanding knowledge of the Rules of Golf, Rawls was the first woman to serve on the Rules Committee for the men's U.S. Open ... Among her numerous honors, she was inducted into the Texas State Golf Hall of Fame in October 1983, won the 1995 Sprint Lifetime Achievement Award and the 1996 Bob Jones Award and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987.