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10.19.1999 1998 Academic Highlights  The Mary Roby Academic Achievement Award
The primary function of the University of Arizona is education, and during the years it has been demonstrated that athletic accomplishment and scholastic success usually go hand in hand. The Academic Achievement Award's program has become an integral part of the University of Arizona Department of Intercollegiate Athletics tradition. The program was first established as the Golden Eagle Awards in 1977, by the late William M. Clements, who recognized the importance of a positive academic experience. The first award was presented at the UA in the spring of 1977 as a way of recognizing student-athletes who maintain high levels of scholastic achievement while performing with distinction in the University's athletic programs. Not long after, the award was renamed the Mary Roby Academic Achievement Award in honor of U of A's first women director of athletics, Dr. Mary Pavlich Roby. During the past 19 years, the Achievement Awards have been presented to more than 1,450 scholar-athletes enrolled at The University of Arizona. Several of those outstanding young people have gone on to distinguish themselves in fields such as medicine, business, law and professional sports, carrying on personal traditions of excellence embodied in the awards. This year's recipients increases that figure to over 1,620. The award was presented during its first several years to dozens of recipients each spring who were selected by a panel of University academic and athletic administrators. In 1983, to better represent the U of A's athletes-at-large, new criteria were developed. Today, a continuing student-athlete who maintains a 3.0 or greater grade point average for two calendar semesters, spring and fall, and freshman or transfer students who maintain a 3.0 or greater GPA during their first semester, will receive the Achievement Award. From those winners, the special recognition of Distinguished Scholar is given to the top academic performers. Distinguished scholars are continuing student-athletes who earn a 4.0 GPA for two calendar semesters, spring and fall, and freshman or transfers who earn a 4.0 GPA during their first semester. This year 10 Arizona student-athletes were recognized as 1998 Distinguished Scholars. The intent behind the Mary Roby Academic Achievement Award is to recognize merit and encourage every student involved in athletics to do his or her best in university coursework. The UA Athletics Department wants its students to know it has tremendous pride in the accomplishments of the award winners and recognizes their efforts as the highest ideal in UA Athletics. 1998 Distinguished Scholar Award Winners (4.0 GPA) Lindsay Compitello Christopher Forwood Elizabeth Giltner Michelle Gough Michael Mortensen Andrea Neary Jari Niskala Davi Paletz Brandon Smith 1998 Mary Roby Academic Achievement Award Winners (3.0 GPA) Dr. Mary Pavlich Roby A professor of exercise and sport sciences, Dr. Roby led Arizona women's athletics through its period of tremendous growth and affiliation with the Intermountain, WCAA, Pac-West and Pacific-10 Conferences. She was a founder of the Council of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (now NACWAA), a member of the Pac-10 Council where she served as Vice President and a member of the compliance committee. Dr. Roby served on numerous AIAW and NCAA committees throughout her career and was the first woman to serve on the national executive boards of NACDA and the U.S. Sports Academy. She is a member of Golden Key Honorary and The University of Arizona Mortar Board Hall of Fame, Sports Halls of Fame and the NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Hall of Fame. |
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