Val Skinner
American LPGA Tour Professional Golfer
Founder
Val Skinner Foundation
Val Skinner is a celebrated professional golfer and passionate advocate for women's health. As a three-time All-American at Oklahoma State University and two-time Big Eight Female Athlete of the Year, she earned GOLF Magazine’s Collegiate Player of the Year before joining the LPGA Tour, where she competed for two decades. Her career highlights include six LPGA Tour victories, ten wins worldwide, seven seasons ranked in the top 15 worldwide, and a place on the 1996 U.S. Solheim Cup Team. She also captained the 2003 PING Junior Solheim Cup Team and served as a golf analyst for CBS Sports and the Golf Channel for over a decade. Val is a member of three golf hall of fames.
In 1999, Val channeled her success into founding the Val Skinner Foundation, with a mission to advance breast cancer education and advocacy. She launched LIFE, LPGA Pros In the Fight to Eradicate Breast Cancer, the following year, raising more than $14 million to date supporting breast cancer research and awareness programs through the LIFE Center named after her advocacy at Rutgers Cancer Institute. Her initiatives including Decoding Cancer, the Young Women’s Initiative, and Komen on the Go have reached over 30 million women and families across the country.
Val’s humanitarian efforts extend to other causes as well. For 20 years, she hosted the Val Skinner & Friends Pro-Am, benefiting organizations focused on supporting women in crisis. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the LPGA Humanitarian Award, the Susan G. Komen Award, and the Golf Writers Association of America's Charlie Bartlett Award, making her the first woman in a decade to receive it. The Val Skinner Foundation was also recognized by Sports Illustrated as the 5th best Foundation ran by a professional athlete in the United States.
Today, Val continues to advocate for cancer research, prevention and better treatment options through the LIFE Center and as a member of the Rutgers Cancer Institute Leadership Committee, driven by a lifelong commitment to giving back and making a lasting impact.