NFHS’ Niehoff to be Inducted into CAS-CIAC Hall of Honor

Dr. Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), will be inducted into the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CAS-CIAC) Hall of Honor on Thursday, April 6, as part of a six-member 2023 class.

Niehoff’s induction commemorates her seven years of leadership as CAS-CIAC executive director (2011-18), along with the 20-plus years she spent as a teacher, coach, athletic director and principal in Connecticut public schools dating to the beginning of her career in 1989. Niehoff left CAS-CIAC in August 2018 to become the NFHS’ sixth full-time executive director (now CEO) and the first female to be appointed to the position.

“I am extremely humbled and touched and grateful,” said Niehoff. “I know that my fellow inductees are amazing people, some of my mentors, and to be inducted into the CAS-CIAC Hall of Honor alongside them is an additional level of honor – the ultimate privilege.”

Established in 2015, the CAS-CIAC Hall of Honor celebrates individuals who have made significant long-term contributions to the organization and comprises seven categories for recognizing inductees: education leadership, athletic leadership, friend of education, contribution to education, contribution to athletics, service to education, and service to athletics.

Niehoff will be accompanied in this year’s induction class by Armand Fabbri, Dr. Robert Lehr, Louis Pear, Michael Rafferty and Joseph Tonelli, and will also join the association’s only other former executive directors – John Daly (1969-88) and Michael Savage (1988-2010) – as Hall of Honor members.

Niehoff’s career in public education in the Constitution State began as a physical education instructor at Greenwich High School. She was a highly successful field hockey coach at Litchfield High School and Joel Barlow High School, as she led her teams to four conference titles and one CIAC state championship. Niehoff also coached high school volleyball, softball, basketball and track and field throughout her career.

In 2000, Niehoff was appointed assistant principal of Har-Bur Middle School in Burlington and assumed the position of principal at Lewis Mills High School four years later, a post she held until joining CAS-CIAC as deputy executive director in 2010.