Victoria Murden McClure (born March 6, 1963
) is an athlete, adventurer, chaplain, lawyer, and university administrator who was the first woman and the first American to row solo across the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, which she did in 1999. She was also the first woman and first American to ski to the geographic
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...
and the first woman to climb the
Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic. She was the president of
Spalding University, a private
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
university in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, for 25 years until her retirement in 2024. She also served as the
Chair of the Board of the
National Outdoor Leadership School
NOLS is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions an ...
(NOLS), an
outdoor education
Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...
school headquartered in
Lander, Wyoming
Lander is a city and the county seat of Fremont County, Wyoming. It is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork Popo Agie River, Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is a tourism center ...
, that emphasizes
environmental ethics
In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...
and wilderness excursions.
Early life and education
McClure was born in
Brooksville, Florida
Brooksville is a city in and the county seat of Hernando County, Florida, Hernando County, Florida, in the United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 7,719, up from 7,264 at the 2000 census. Brooksville is ...
and as a child moved to Connecticut and then to Pennsylvania. At the age of fifteen, she moved in with her grandmother in Louisville, Kentucky, to attend the
Louisville Collegiate School from which she graduated in 1981. She went on to
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1985. She followed that with a Master of Divinity from
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...
in 1989, a
J.D. from the
University of Louisville School of Law in 1995,
and a Master of Fine Arts in writing from
Spalding University.
Solo row across the Atlantic
Thirty-six years old at the time, she rowed for eighty-one days, traveling , starting from the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
and finishing at
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
on December 3, 1999. Her boat, ''Pearl'', was twenty-three feet long, four feet high, and six feet wide and weighed about 1800 pounds. It was her second trip across the ocean, her first one cut short due to the hurricane season in 1998.
She wrote a memoir about her experiences, ''A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean'', published by HarperCollins in 2009.
She is also noted for her 700-mile ski across the South Pole (the first woman to ski to the South Pole), and she was the first woman to climb the
Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic.
Career
McClure has also worked as a chaplain at
Boston City Hospital, the executive director of a shelter for homeless women, and a public policy analyst for the
Mayor of Louisville, and she worked for the boxer and humanitarian
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
. On June 1, 2010, she became the president of
Spalding University, which is located in Louisville.
[Spalding University President Search](_blank)
/ref> She is the chair of the Board of the National Outdoor Leadership School
NOLS is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, wilderness medicine, risk management and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions an ...
.
Honors and awards
* 1988 – First woman and first American to reach the summit of the Lewis Nunatak in the Antarctic
* 1989 – First woman and first American to ski to the geographic South Pole
* 1989 – Named a Hopkin's Scholar at Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
* 1999 – First woman and first American to row across the Atlantic
* 1999 – Received Kentucky Derby Festival's Silver Horse Shoe Award for courage, determination, and community service
* 2000 – Received special Victor Award, given annually by the National Academy of Sports Editors to outstanding athletes
* 2000 – Received the Peter Bird Trophy for Tenacity and Perseverance from the Ocean Rowing Society International
* 2000 – HonoredIn what way? by European Academy of Sport
References
Resources
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External links
A Pearl in the Storm Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murden, Tori
Living people
1963 births
American female rowers
American women academic administrators
Louisville Collegiate School alumni
Spalding University alumni
Smith College alumni
Harvard Divinity School alumni
University of Louisville alumni
People from Brooksville, Florida
People from Louisville, Kentucky
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American explorers
Female polar explorers
American academic administrators
South Pole
21st-century American academics
21st-century American women academics
20th-century American sportswomen