THE PICTOR GROUP LEADERSHIP TEAM MEMBERS HONORED FOR PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Three members of The PICTOR Group leadership team, Dr. M. Dianne Murphy, Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree and Cary Groth, have been honored recently for their professional accomplishments.

Vice President M. Dianne Murphy was inducted into two Halls of Fame this fall, being honored by both Columbia University and Tennessee Tech University. Murphy was part of a Columbia class that included 22 individuals and four teams who were honored at a black-tie dinner and induction center in New York City on October 12, while she was one of five selected as members of the 2023 class at Tennessee Tech.

Murphy served as Director of Athletics at Columbia from 2004-2015, guiding a program that saw the Lions win 30 Ivy League Championships during her tenure. She was honored as Athletics Director of the Year by NACDA in 2013-14. Murphy also oversaw the planning and construction of the Campbell Sports Center at the Baker Athletics Complex, which opened in 2013, and the creation of the Women's Leadership Council in 2007.

Tennessee Tech honored Murphy for her legendary career as a student-athlete, coach and administrator. A member of the inaugural Tennessee Tech women's basketball, women's tennis, and volleyball teams, she became the first graduate assistant for the Golden Eaglettes in the 1972-73 season. She went on to spend 13 years as an NCAA Division I head women’s basketball coach, associate athletics director at three different institutions and Division I Director of Athletics for 17 years. In 2016 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women Leaders in College Sports and was inducted into the NACDA Hall of Fame in 2017.

Murphy has continued to work in the Tennessee Tech community, working as an adjunct professor in Sports Management and serving as the Vice Chair of the Tennessee Tech Foundation Board of Directors. In 2006, she created a leadership initiative at Tech – the Dr. M. Dianne Murphy Leaders for Life program - an initiative that provides comprehensive leadership training to student-athletes.

PICTOR Group Consultant Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree was inducted into the Alex M. Rivera North Carolina Central University Athletics Hall of Fame on Sept. 30. It marks the fourth Hall of Fame inductee for Wicker McCree who has been honored as a student-athlete, coach and administrator by the C.E. Jordan High School Hall of Fame, John B. McLendon Hall of Fame (CIAA), the George Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame and now the NCCU Alex Rivera Hall of Fame.

Wicker McCree began her career at NCCU as the head coach for women's volleyball and softball in 1994. capturing the university's first ever CIAA championships in softball (1998) and volleyball (1999, 2004, 2005), and becoming the first coach in NCCU history to win conference championships in multiple sports. A three-time CIAA Volleyball Coach of the Year, she earned 239 match victories in 12 seasons as head volleyball coach.

Wicker McCree then became the first female to hold the permanent title of the Director of Athletics at North Carolina Central University in 2008. One of the longest-tenured athletic directors in NCCU history, she led NCCU's successful reclassification to Division I FCS membership, which included developing and implementing the first long-range strategic plan for the transition. Upon her retirement, she oversaw the development of a new strategic plan, Era of Excellence, 2020-25. She has also served in various leadership positions on local, regional and national boards, including the Durham Sports Commission, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, FCS Football Regional Ranking Committee, and the NCAA Division II Volleyball Committee, NCAA Research committee, and most recently the NCAA Division I Council. In recognition of her achievements, an endowed scholarship was established in her name at NCCU: the Ingrid Wicker McCree Legacy Endowed Scholarship Fund.

The PICTOR Group Founder and Chief Executive Office Cary Groth has been named one of 50 Game Changers by the Sports Business Journal. Game Changers are recognized as active leaders, creators and decision-makers within their athletic departments, leagues, teams, media companies and nonprofit organizations. Groth will be recognized at the SBJ Game Changers Conference on October 24 in New York.

Groth also serves as the program director of the Sports Management Program in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. The program offers an undergraduate minor and a graduate level Executive Certificate Program, and students learn from industry leaders and professionals through intercollegiate and professional sports. The Sports Management Program has successfully assisted with the long-term job placement of 80 percent of their students.

As a former student-athlete, head women’s tennis coach and athletics administrator, Groth has over 40 years of success throughout her dynamic career. She became the athletics director at her alma mater, Northern Illinois, in 1994. After 10 successful years at Northern Illinois, she served as the athletics director at the University of Nevada from 2004-13. Groth is credited with leading both institutions into nationally competitive athletics programs while increasing the graduation rate of student-athletes. She earned NIU’s College of Education Distinguished Alumni Award and is also a member of the NIU and Mid-American Conference Athletics Halls of Fame.

Groth has held positions on various national and conference committees, including being named to the U.S. Department of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics by President George W. Bush. She has also served as President of Women Leaders in College Sports. She was awarded the Women Leaders in College Sports Administrator of the Year Award and was named the WBCA’s Administrator of the Year in 2003. She founded the PICTOR Group in 2014.

The PICTOR Group offers consulting services in Strategic Visioning and Planning, Program Assessments and Reviews, Sports Performance, Executive Search/Onboarding/Executive Coaching and Culture Assessments and Development. The PICTOR Group’s leadership team includes three former NCAA Division I Athletics Directors and a Division I Conference Commissioner. The PICTOR Group offers a unique blend of exceptional talent, expertise and experience and a team that is passionate for visionary and ethical leadership in intercollegiate athletics. To date, The PICTOR Group has successfully worked with over 100 clients in intercollegiate athletics.