Erin Tenbrunsel Secretarski
Class of 2016
Erin Tenbrunsel Secretarski built a life around competition, discipline and achievement, qualities that carried her from Huntsville High School to the University of Alabama and even, for one memorable summer, to the FBI Academy at Quantico.
Born in Michigan, Tenbrunsel moved with her family to Huntsville in 1986 and soon established herself as one of the area’s most versatile female athletes. By the time she finished at Huntsville High in 1992, she had lettered two years in basketball, four years in softball and four years in volleyball. Though she excelled in multiple sports, volleyball became her signature game while playing under Hall of Fame coach Sherry Ammons. Tenbrunsel later said Ammons influenced her not only as a coach but as a teacher of life, with lessons that still shaped her parenting, work habits and relationships.
She continued her athletic and academic career at the University of Alabama, where she played varsity volleyball from 1992 to 1997 while pursuing a demanding degree in computer science. Her college honors reflected both excellence in the classroom and leadership on the court. She received the Crimson Tide Volleyball Academic Award in 1993, earned Crimson Tide Volleyball Classic All-Tournament recognition in 1994, served as team captain and was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
During the summer of 1995, Tenbrunsel was selected for a highly competitive FBI internship at Quantico, one of only two college students chosen from Alabama. There she worked in an analysis group using advanced evidence technology and participated in brainstorming sessions related to the investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing. The experience left such an impression that she seriously considered a career with the FBI.
Life ultimately took her in another direction. After graduation she joined IBM, later married investment executive Jimmy Secretarski and built a family life in Asheville, North Carolina. Yet the same energy that once fueled her athletic career still defines her, whether in fitness, family or daily life.
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