Donna J. Noonan, vice-president for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship, has announced she will leave the national office staff to assume duties as the interim women's golf coach at the University of Memphis.

Noonan will join the Memphis staff in September. She is familiar with coaching collegiate golf programs, having served as the head women's coach at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, from 1983 to 1987 and as an assistant women's golf coach at the University of Georgia from 1980 to 1983.

Noonan, who has been with the NCAA since 1987, oversaw the conduct and administration of the Division I Women's Basketball Championship since she was appointed to the position in October 1999.

Before that, Noonan served as director of championships. In that role, she was responsible for managing a staff of championship administrators, overseeing Division III championships and assisting the vice-president for championships in the day-to-day management of the championships group. Noonan served in liaison roles to the Division I Women's Basketball Committee, the National Collegiate Women's Rowing Committee, the Division I Women's Volleyball Committee and the Division III Championships Committee.

"Donna's commitment to the welfare of the NCAA -- not just during the last four years with her oversight of one of the NCAA's most visible events, but during her 16 years as a member of the championships staff -- has been exemplary," said NCAA Executive Vice-President Tom Jernstedt. "She's done an excellent job providing leadership to one the NCAA's premier championships and has played an integral role in the growth of that event and the overall growth of women's basketball.

"She's also earned a great deal of respect from the NCAA governance committees she staffs and from the national office staff she oversees."

A former assistant golf teaching pro, Noonan received her undergraduate degree in physical education and her master's degree in business administration from Georgia, where she was a member of the golf team and the women's basketball team.