21st Annual Induction to Take Place in Tampa June 30
Waltham, Mass. A decorated military veteran, a well-known athletics administrator, two former national women's basketball Player of the Year honorees and a four-time Olympic swimming medalist will be inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame® during ceremonies in Tampa, Fla. on Monday, June 30.
The class of 2008 includes:
• Dr. Kenneth Caldwell (The Citadel, class of 1979), a gridiron standout who served in the United States Army Reserve for eight years, including a tour of duty in Operation Desert Storm, and has been Citadel's team physician since 1989;
• Nancy Hogshead-Makar (Duke University, class of 1986), who captured four individual ACC titles for the Blue Devils before earning glory at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with three swimming gold medals;
• Karen Jennings (University of Nebraska, class of 1993), the Wade Trophy recipient as a senior and the two-time Academic All-America of the Year for the Huskers;
• Rebecca Lobo (University of Connecticut, class of 1995), a consensus national Player of the Year selection who guided the Huskies to a perfect season as a senior before enjoying more success in the WNBA;
• Amy Privette Perko (Wake Forest University, class of 1987), the first female Academic All-America in school history and current Executive Director of the Knight Foundation Commission.
The five inductees will join 98 previous inductees since the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame held its first induction in 1988.
CoSIDA established the Hall of Fame to honor former college student-athletes who have excelled in their professions and made substantial contributions to their communities. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a candidate either had to be an Academic All-America® team member who graduated at least 10 years ago, or fall into the honorary category, as was the case with Hogshead-Makar.
Honorary inductees are eligible candidates who competed prior to the establishment of the Academic All-America program in their sport.
“The class of 2008 again reflects the types of individuals who exemplify everything positive about the Academic All-America program and the Hall of Fame,” said Charles Bloom of the Southeastern Conference, the 2007-08 CoSIDA president. “CoSIDA, and its members, are once again extremely proud to be a part of this great program.”
The Hall of Fame is an offshoot of CoSIDA's core Academic All-America program, which is sponsored by ESPN the Magazine. CoSIDA recognizes over 800 athletes annually as Academic All-Americas, and also selects in excess of 2,000 annually for Academic All-District honors.
This year's Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the Tampa Marriott Hotel as part of CoSIDA's annual workshop.
2008 ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE PROFILES
REBECCA LOBO
A two-time All-America selection and a WNBA all-star, Rebecca Lobo revolutionized the way that the public views women's basketball during her career at the University of Connecticut. On the court, Lobo guided the Huskies to a perfect 35-0 mark during her senior campaign, a year that was capped with the 1995 NCAA national championship, and as one of the first players in WNBA history she helped guide the New York Liberty to the 1997 league title game.
A Rhodes Scholar candidate, Lobo was the 1995 Academic All-America of the Year in women's basketball and the Co-Academic All-America of the Year for all teams in the University Division. A two-time pick as The BIG EAST Conference Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Lobo was named as the NCAA Woman of the Year in 1995 while also receiving the NCAA's “Today's Top Eight Award”. She is the only player in BIG EAST history to earn both Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
Lobo earned her degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from UConn, posting a 3.638 cumulative grade point average along the way, and she helped the United States capture the Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. After a very successful seven-year career in the WNBA, Lobo now serves as an analyst with ESPN.
Lobo has been actively involved in the community, founding “The RuthAnn and Rebecca Lobo Scholarship in Allied Health” at UConn while serving as a spokesperson for Hispanic Scholarship Fun, Teach for America and “Save Lids To Save Lives”, which is a breast cancer fundraising campaign.
DR. KENNETH CALDWELL
A Hall of Fame performer on the football field for The Citadel, Dr. Kenneth Caldwell has served both his community and country with great pride since his graduation in 1979.
Dr. Caldwell, a general and orthopedic surgeon, was a three-time first team Academic All-America selection on the gridiron, where he was The Citadel's Most Valuable Player and Coaches' Award recipient. A 1979 graduate with a degree in Chemistry, Dr. Caldwell was inducted into The Citadel's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
A Major in the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps, Dr. Caldwell served his country in that role for eight years. He served as an orthopedic surgeon at the 312nd Evac Hospital in Saudi Arabia during a seven-month stint in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm from November 1990 through May 1991.
Dr. Caldwell, team physician at his alma mater for the past 18 years, served a nine-year stint on the South Carolina State Board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Dr. Caldwell continues with FCA as a Huddle sponsor at the Citadel and also serves on the Lowcountry Board of the FCA.
Dr. Caldwell was also a founding board member of the Palmetto Christian Academy in Mount Pleasant, S.C. He has authored numerous articles in his field and has delivered over a dozen lectures and speeches during his career.
AMY PRIVETTE PERKO
After establishing herself as one of the top women's basketball players in Wake Forest history, Amy Privette Perko has risen to national prominence in her career as the leader of one of the most influential athletic governing bodies in the nation.
A two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection on the court, Perko shined brightly in the classroom as well, earning three Academic All-America citations, including two first team spots as a junior and senior. She ranks as the second all-time leading scorer in Demon Deacon history with 1,722 points, and she holds the Wake Forest facility record with 38 points against Appalachian State on January 3, 1986. Perko, who earned her degree in History in 1987 with a 3.85 GPA, averaged 15.7 points per game during her career and was inducted into her alma mater's Athletic Hall of Fame in January 2000.
Perko worked as a services and enforcement representative at the NCAA for six years before moving on to the University of Kansas in 1996, where she served as both Associate Athletics Director and Senior Women's Administrator. She left Lawrence in 2001 to become the President of the NBA Development League's Fayetteville Patriots before assuming duties with the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in 2003, first as Associate Director for two years before becoming Executive Director in 2005.
Perko has been actively involved in several organizations in both her church and community and has also served as a Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity volunteer. Amy and her husband, Rick, are the parents of two daughters: Anna and Kate.
NANCY HOGSHEAD-MAKAR
One of the greatest swimmers in Olympic history, Nancy Hogshead-Makar has enjoyed great success both in the athletic and academic communities throughout her career.
Hogshead-Makar, who is this year's honorary Hall of Fame inductee, showed her brilliance in the pool in just one season of competition at Duke, where she captured four individual ACC championships and earned two All-America accolades. Hogshead-Makar set school records in all nine events that she swam for the Blue Devils, one of which still stands today, and she earned her degree in Political Science from Duke in 1986.
Hogshead-Makar's swimming success did not end in Durham and was thrust onto an international stage in Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympics, where she captured gold medals in the 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay and a silver medal in the 200 intermediate. She also served as a swimming analyst for several major networks at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1990 Olympic Games.
One of the country's foremost experts as an attorney for gender equity within athletics, Hogshead-Makar serves currently as a Professor of Law at the Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Fla. after working for four years in the firm of Holland & Knight. She served as President of the Women's Sports Foundation from 1992 through 1994 and served as an advisor to President Clinton on the National Service Act. Hogshead-Makar, who became the first female inductee into Duke's Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, has served on the boards of numerous companies and organizations and earned her law degree from Georgetown University in 1997.
The honorary category allows CoSIDA to recognize outstanding student-athletes who didn't have the opportunity to earn Academic All-America honors because the program didn't exist in their sport at the time they were competing. Past honorary inductees have included Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania, Supreme Court Justice Byron White, Coach John Wooden and Rolf Benirschke of the San Diego Chargers.
KAREN JENNINGS
A quick look at the career accomplishments of Karen Jennings serves as a true reminder of the definition of student-athlete, as she enjoyed great success both on and off the basketball court at the University of Nebraska.
The 1993 Wade Trophy recipient as the National Player of the Year, Jennings was a two-time selection as Academic All-America of the Year in women's basketball and a three-time overall pick. The all-time leading scorer for the Huskers with 2,405 points, she was also a first-team Kodak All-America selection as a senior while earning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, and she is the only player in Nebraska history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. Jennings earned her degree in Education with a 3.756 GPA in 1993 and returned to Nebraska to earn her master's degree in Physical Therapy in 1998.
A three-time Academic All-Big Eight selection, Jennings was a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year honors in 1993 and was named as the captain of Nebraska's All-Century Team for Women's Basketball in 2000.
Jennings, who played on the United States Junior National Team and also played professionally in France, is an active member in the Omaha community where she resides. She is a member of Mothers of Pre-Schoolers and was previously a volunteer for the Corporate Cup for Arthritis Foundation as well as the Race for A Cure. Jennings has also served as a motivational speaker for girls groups in the Omaha area, including the YMCA and the Girl Scouts.
