The NCAA News - News and Features

April 13, 1998

Division III athletes Gray, Harris awarded Byers Scholarships

Student-athletes at two Division III institutions -- football player Robert Bradley Gray of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and basketball player Marsha Ann Harris of New York University -- are this year's recipients of the Association's Walter Byers Scholarships.

Gray and Harris each will receive a $12,500 scholarship from the Association. They were selected from among six finalists from all three divisions who were interviewed April 5-6 in Atlanta by the NCAA Walter Byers Scholarship Committee.

The Byers Scholarships were established in 1988 to recognize the contributions of the former NCAA executive director by encouraging excellence in academic performance by student-athletes.

Award recipients are required to

have at least a 3.500 grade-point average (4.000 scale), show evidence of superior character and leadership, and demonstrate that participation

in athletics has been a positive influence on personal and intellectual development, among other qualifications.

Following is a look at the Byers scholars:

Gray

The four-year starter at defensive tackle became the first lineman ever to win the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference's player-of-

the-year award last season and he also received honorable mention as a Division III all-American. He led his team in solo tackles, total tackles, tackles for loss, sacks and hurries.

Gray expects to graduate in June with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He is a 1997 British Marshall Scholar and plans to pursue a master's degree in molecular and cellular biochemistry at Oxford University in Great Britain beginning next fall.

He is one of 18 recipients of the 1997 National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scho-lar-Athlete Fellowships, and he was a Division III finalist for the NFFCHF's Vincent Draddy Award for football's top scholar-athlete. He also was 1997 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year in college-division football and is a two-time Academic All-America selection.

In addition to gaining research experience in MIT laboratories and at prominent research firms, Gray has worked in an after-school program for inner-city children in South Boston.

Harris

A Division III all-America player, Harris is remembered for the last-second layup in the 1997 Division III Women's Basketball Championship that clinched the title for New York University. She completed her career as the school's career leader in field goals, free throws, free throw percentage, assists, steals, points, scoring average, blocked shots, and three point field goal percentage. She also holds the single-season scoring record. Harris twice has been University Athletic Association player of the year, as well as Women's DIII News player of the year for 1996-97.

A chemistry major, Harris expects to graduate in May with a bachelor of arts degree and plans to attend medical school.

She was a recipient during the past season of the Chase NIT Student-Athlete Award. She also has received the Associated Universities Inc. Trustee Scholarship and the New York University College of Arts and Sciences Scholarship.

Other activities include membership in the Black Science Students' Organization and American Medical Students' Association and participation in the Academic Achievement Program.