The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 21, 1998

Richardson to receive 1999 'Teddy' Award

Bill Richardson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is this year's recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Award, the most prestigious honor bestowed on an individual by the NCAA.

Richardson is the 32nd recipient of the "Teddy," which will be awarded at the NCAA honors dinner January 10 in San Antonio.

A congressman for 14 years before moving to his U.N. position, Richardson is a 1970 graduate of Tufts University, where he led the Jumbos baseball team to the co-champion-

ship of the Greater Boston League as a senior. That season, he compiled a 2-0 record in 171/3 innings, striking out 19, posting an earned-run average of 3.12 and surrendering 14 hits. He enjoyed his best individual season in 1968, notching a 4-4 won-lost record in 631/3 innings, allowing 43 hits, striking out 59 batters and registering an ERA of 2.98.

As a junior, Richardson gained international experience by arranging a 12-day, 11-game preseason trip to Mexico for the baseball team. Tufts played before crowds of 5,000 and was on national television twice during the tour. A visit to the American embassy in Mexico City, where the Jumbos met then-U.S. Ambassador Henry Dearborn, also was a highlight. Richardson's other extracurricular college activities included serving as president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and as chair of the undergraduate admissions committee.

A two-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Richardson will serve in his current dual role before moving solely to the Department of Energy post when another ambassador is selected. A member of President Clinton's cabinet and the National Security Council, he is the first Hispanic to serve in a foreign policy cabinet-level position.

Appointed to his U.N. position in 1996, Richardson ushered through the U.N. Security Council's six resolutions and statements condemning Iraq's refusal to comply with U.N. resolutions on weapons of mass destruction, and he traveled to nine Security Council capitals as a presidential envoy to gather support for the policy on Iraq.

He won an agreement for face-to-face peace talks between Afghanistan's Taliban regime and opposing factions; secured a military stand down; and negotiated prisoner releases during the highest ranking U.S. visit to Afghanistan since 1973.

Richardson also worked closely with key congressional leaders to craft bipartisan legislation that would pay the U.S.'s $1 billion debt to the U.N.

In addition, he has participated in many other headline-making international negotiations, including one in conjunction with former President Carter for the release of two downed American pilots from North Korea. He also negotiated with Iraq's Sadaam Hussein for the release of two Americans who were held captive after they wandered over the Iraqi border in 1995.

Richardson held a historical meeting with Burmese political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, becoming the first nonfamily member allowed to visit her during five years of house arrest. He also has led various negotiations with Cuba, Bangladesh and Sudan, and chaired U.S. observer teams for elections in Guatemala, Nicaragua and East Germany.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1982 from New Mexico's third congressional district, one of the largest and most ethnically diverse districts in the country, he served as chief deputy whip and chair of the Native American Affairs Subcommittee of the 103rd Congress, authoring dozens of bills aimed at improving all aspects of Native American life.

Richardson is a board member of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Art Has Heart Foundation and the International Planned Parenthood Federation of the Western Region. He serves as a board member for the New Mexico chapters for the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Native American Preparatory School, and Youth Shelters and Family Services. A founding board member of Project Vote Smart, he is president of the U.S. Spain Council, a member of the Board of Visitors for the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has delivered more than 160 speeches for charitable organizations.

His many professional awards include the Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency, Flame of Hope Award from the American Indian College Fund, the Gold Medal Award from the National Institute for Social Science, the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Award from the Hispanic Heritage Leadership Foundation, a Humanitarian Award from the Salvation Army and a Medal of Distinction from the International Association of Lions Clubs.