Six former NCAA student-athletes have been named as recipients of the 2005 Silver Anniversary Award.

The award recognizes former student-athletes who completed successful collegiate careers in various sports 25 years ago and went on to excel in their chosen professions. Recipients were chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee, which is composed of administrators at member institutions and prominent citizens who also formerly were student-athletes.

This year's Silver Anniversary Award honorees are Mark Johnson (University of Wisconsin, Madison, men's ice hockey); Gary Lawrence (Yale University, men's ice hockey and men's golf); Paul McDonald (University of Southern California, football); Greg Meredith (University of Notre Dame, men's ice hockey); Joan Benoit Samuelson (Bowdoin College, track and field and field hockey); and Dave Stoldt (University of Illinois, Champaign, men's gymnastics).

Following are biographical sketches of the 2004 award winners, who will be recognized Sunday, January 9, at the Honors Dinner during the NCAA Convention in Dallas.

Mark Johnson
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Men's ice hockey
Head women's ice hockey coach, University of Wisconsin, Madison

A three-year letter-winner and two-time first-team all-American, Johnson helped Wisconsin capture the 1977 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Championship. That same season, he became the first Wisconsin student-athlete to earn Western Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year honors. Johnson, who led Wisconsin in goals scored all three years of his career, is the only Badger in school history to score five goals in a game and average more than 2.00 points per game in his career.

In international play, Johnson was the leading scorer for the gold-medal-winning 1980 U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team.

He recorded five goals and six assists for 11 points as an Olympian. Inducted in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the 1980 Olympic team and for individual achievements including an 11-year National Hockey League career, Johnson coached at the high-school level and was an assistant men's ice hockey coach for Wisconsin from 1996 to 2002.

He currently is in his third season as head women's ice hockey coach for the Badgers.

Named the 2004 recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence, presented by the Vince Lombardi Charitable Fund, Johnson has served as a spokesman for numerous civic and charitable organizations, including Athletes in Action, Boy Scouts of America and the Children's Cancer Fund.

Gary Lawrence
Yale University
Men's ice hockey, men's golf
Private equity fund manager

Lawrence, a four-year letter-winner from 1977 to 1980, helped Yale's men's ice hockey team to an Eastern College Athletic Conference playoff appearance in 1979, the team's first in 11 years. Lawrence, a Rhodes scholar, was captain of the 1980 ice hockey squad and also played one year of varsity golf.

Currently, Lawrence is managing partner and founder of Excelsior Capital Asia, an independent Asian-based direct investment firm established in 1998 that invests in companies throughout the Asian region and manages about $230 million in two funds. He formerly was a managing director at Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Group in Hong Kong and at Tiger Management in New York. He completed tenures with Goldman, Sachs and Company's mergers and acquisitions department and as an attorney with White and Case.

Lawrence serves on several boards, including DC Chemical in Korea, Zest Health Clubs in Australia, and Sanlih E-Television and Tainan Enterprises in Taiwan. In addition, he is the co-founder and a committee member of the Hong Kong Ice Sports Association, a federation of ice sports groups established to increase community awareness and government support for ice sports in Hong Kong and China. Lawrence is head coach and director of the Typhoons Ice Hockey Club, the leading ice hockey club in Hong Kong, with more than 200 participants.

Paul McDonald
University of Southern California
Football
Associate director, First American Title Insurance Company, football broadcast analyst

As quarterback for the Trojans, McDonald led Southern California to the 1978 national championship and two Rose Bowl victories. The NCAA Top V honoree and NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient set 17 NCAA, Pacific-10 Conference and Southern California records during his collegiate career.

After completing an eight-year career in the NFL, McDonald went on to work in the asset management division at Wells Fargo and as a partner at Spectrum Alliance Group, a management firm. McDonald also worked in Merrill Lynch's sports division and completed stints in private banking sales and as president of Direct Vision, a marketing company.

In addition, McDonald hosted a weekly Pacific-10 Conference football television show from 1992 to 1995. Named as the best radio color commentator by the Southern California Broadcasters Association in 2002, he began his seventh year as a radio analyst for Southern California football in 2004.

McDonald, who presently works as associate director and regional sales manager for National Commercial Services, volunteers with the Newport Harbor (California) High School mentoring program. He is a founding member of StreetSmart Kids, an organization designed to educate children and parents about child safety. He also is a member of the board of directors for the West Coast Sports Association, which provides financial support for inner-city youth projects.

Greg Meredith
University of Notre Dame
Men's ice hockey
Managing director, Putnam Lovell NBF Securities, Inc.

Meredith was a four-year letter-winner in men's ice hockey at Notre Dame. He served as team captain for two seasons and established records for career goals (104) and career power-play goals (43). A finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, Meredith was an NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient.

Currently managing director for Putnam Lovell NBF Securities, Inc., Meredith has held positions with Salomon Brothers, Inc., Nationsbanc Capital Markets, Inc. and Fenway Partners, Inc. From 2001 to 2002, he worked as president and chief executive officer at HSBC Capital and also was president and chief executive officer of Printvision, a software company, from 2002 to 2003. In addition, he is founder and president of Proctor Capital, a private investment and strategic advisory firm. Meredith played professional ice hockey with the NHL's Calgary Flames from 1980 to 1984 and formerly was an assistant men's ice hockey coach at Harvard.

Meredith coaches with the St. David's Hockey program for boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 11. He formed the Meredith Family Foundation in 1997, which contributes to programs such as the LOGAN Center, which provides services to individuals with intellectual disabilities; the St. Joseph's County Special Olympics; and Camp Milhouse, a summer camp for children with significant intellectual disabilities. In addition, the organization funds educational initiatives including the Paul E. Meredith scholarships at Notre Dame.

Joan Benoit Samuelson
Bowdoin College
Track and field and field hockey
Consultant and community service volunteer

A track and field standout at Bowdoin from 1976 to 1979, Samuelson also competed with the school's field hockey team in 1975-76. She won the inaugural women's marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984 and earned an Olympic gold medal in the event that same year. Samuelson established world-best times with first-place finishes at the Boston Marathon in 1978 and 1983 and is the current American record holder after finishing first at the Chicago Marathon in 1985.

The Nordic coach for Freeport Middle School since 2001 and an athlete and consultant for Nike since 1978, Samuelson formerly served as the long-distance coach for the women's track team at Boston University from 1981 to 1983. She has conducted running and health and fitness clinics nationally and internationally and is the author of two books. Samuelson is an inductee into the International Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame and the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.

Samuelson has been a member of Bowdoin's board of trustees since 1995. She is the founder and chair of the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K road race, established in 1997, and also has performed public service with numerous organizations, including the National Resources Council of Maine, the Alzheimer's Foundation, the M.S. Society and the Massachusetts Association for the Blind.

Dave Stoldt
University of Illinois, Champaign
Men's gymnastics
Principal, CommonwealthPacific Ventures and chief financial officer of nAscent BioSciences, Inc.

Stoldt walked on to the gymnastics squad at Illinois and became a four-year letter-winner. He earned a national championship in the pommel horse in 1980 and was the 1979 and 1980 Big Ten champion. The two-time all-American and NCAA postgraduate scholarship recipient captained the team during the 1979-80 season.

Stoldt is founder and principal of CommonwealthPacific Ventures, established in 1999, and has been chief financial officer for nAs-cent BioSciences, Inc., since 2004. He formerly served as managing principal for the Environmental Resource Finance Group from 1997 to 2000 and worked as a vice-president at PaineWebber, Inc. for 10 years. From 1982 to 1985, Stoldt was a planner-engineer with Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Since 2000, Stoldt has been chair, vice-chair and a member of the Hopkinton (Massachusetts) School Board. In addition, he is the founding financial contributor to the Fighting Illini Men's Gymnastics Endowment Fund to establish a permanent endowment to benefit the program. Formerly the vice-president of finance and board member for the Oakland Ballet from 1993 to 1998, Stoldt provides financial support to four universities, seven local educational and community organizations, 10 national and local health and human service organizations, and seven national and local environmental organizations, in addition to several other charitable causes.