Bio

In her eighth year as volunteer-assistant coach, Dr. Linda Musante brings both athletic and academic experience to the Spartan women’s cross country team.

Dr. Musante earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in psychology from Eckerd College and her Masters and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently Dana Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Tampa, with 30 years as a full-time member of the U.T. faculty.  Dr. Musante served as chair of the psychology department, co-chair of the university faculty, chair of the women’s studies program and the university Institutional Review Board, and faculty advisor to sororities and other student athletic and interest groups.  Very active in the U.T. Honors program, she accompanied students on travel trips to England and Costa Rica. She taught psychology courses to thousands of UT students and published over 50 scholarly articles.  She was the 1995 recipient of the annual Louise Loy Hunter award, U.T.’s highest faculty honor for recognition of excellence in teaching, service and scholarship.

Dr. Musante has also been an active and successful triathlete and runner in the Tampa Bay area for over 30 years. Among her athletic accomplishments are two age group top ten finishes at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, over 20 years as an age group All-American triathlete, and was the 1999 age group World Champion in the 70.3 half ironman distance.  During all of the six years, she has assisted Coach Jarrett Slaven, the Spartan women’s cross country team has won the NCAA II south regional title and qualified for the D2 NCAA National Championship.