Retiring UMSL Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan sits for an interview with KSDK (Channel 5) Sports Director Frank Cusumano on the basketball court in the Mark Twain Athletic Center. (Screenshot)

KSDK (Channel 5) Sports Director Frank Cusumano used part of last Wednesday evening’s newscast to celebrate the impact of retiring University of Missouri–St. Louis Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan.

“An unlikely but lengthy and very successful career in intercollegiate athletics is about to end at UMSL,” Cusumano said during the feature segment. “And to think Lori Flanagan’s father said, ‘Don’t do it.’”

Flanagan explained the circumstances in which her father tried initially to steer her away from her chosen career path.

“He wanted me to be a librarian, Frank, because he thought I was too small to be an administrator in college athletics,” Flanagan said.

The 5-foot-4, 110-pound pound Flanagan grew up in Marshfield, Wisconsin, in an era where opportunities for women in sports were quite limited. But she forged down that path anyway, first becoming a graduate assistant in sports administration at Mankato State University in Minnesota, then spending a year at NCAA Division II member St. Cloud State. She would go on spend 14 years at Saint Louis University, serving as assistant director of athletics and senior woman administrator after joining the program in 1992.

Flanagan came to UMSL in 2006, first serving as associate director of athletics and as the department’s chief financial officer, before being named interim director of athletics in 2008 and getting the permanent appointment the following year.

In 18 years at UMSL, Flanagan has helped the department claim nine Great Lakes Valley Conference championships and win three regional titles with 67 student-athletes earning All-American recognition.

“Student-athlete wellness is at the top of her list,” men’s basketball Coach Bob Sundvold told Cusumano, himself a 1984 UMSL alum. “She is always thinking about what the student-athletes need for success.”

Flanagan announced her intention to retire in June. She is continuing in her position as UMSL completes a national search for her successor.

Watch the full story from KSDK.