Elizabeth A. Hanley (USA)

Associate Editor

hanleyELIZABETH A. HANLEY (‘Betz’) was born in Washington, DC, and raised in Silver Spring, MD. She earned a BS in Physical Education from the University of Maryland in 1960 and taught from 1960-64 at Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, MD, after which she earned an MS in Physical Education at The Pennsylvania State University. For four years during her early tenure at Penn State, Betz was varsity gymnastics coach, in addition to her teaching responsibilities, and in 1978 she founded and directed the Penn State International Dance Ensemble, a company dedicated to performing the music, song and dance of world cultures. From 1978-98 the ensemble performed throughout PA, MD, and OH, and at Epcot Center, as well as accepting an invitation to perform in Slovakia from the Matica Slovenska National Cultural Institute in Bratislava. In 1998 she retired as director of the ensemble but continues to enjoy a close relationship with many of the former members.

Olympic-related activities began in 1977 when Betz was selected by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) as a delegate to the IOA (International Olympic Academy) in Greece. Her expertise in dance (modern, folk, ballroom) during social evening programs at the IOA resulted in a series of invitations from 1978-2004 as dance workshop coordinator. She was also a guest lecturer at the IOA on Olympic topics, and taught History of the Olympic Games course at Penn State for several years. Connections with Olympic personalities and academicians at the IOA resulted in attendance at the following Olympic Games: Lake Placid 1980, Sarajevo 1984, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Torino 2006. Betz attended the 2008 Beijing/Hong Kong Olympic Games (the Equestrian events were held in HK) as well as the 2012 London Olympic Games. She retired as Associate Professor Emerita of Kinesiology in 2004.

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