The NCAA will recognize seven former standout student-athletes as 2008 Silver Anniversary Award winners. The award recognizes former student-athletes who have successfully finished their collegiate careers in various sports 25 years ago and gone on to excel in their chosen careers.

The seven awardees are:

Theresa Andrews (University of Florida, swimming);
Todd Blackledge (Pennsylvania State University, football);
Cormac Carney (University of California, Los Angeles, football);
Anne Donovan (Old Dominion University, basketball);
Dot Richardson (University of California, Los Angeles, softball and basketball);
Robin Roberts (Southeastern Louisiana University, basketball); and
Robert Woodruff (Colgate University, lacrosse).

The honorees will be recognized at the NCAA Honors Celebration January 13 during the 2008 NCAA Convention in Nashville.

Recipients were chosen by the NCAA Honors Committee, composed of athletics administrators and nationally distinguished citizens who also were former student-athletes.

The Silver Anniversary Awards usually recognize six individuals, but the number of compelling cases in this year’s class prompted the committee to add an honoree.

Following are biographical sketches of the 2008 award winners:

Theresa Andrews
University of Florida
Swimming
Consumer banking
A three-time NCAA champion and 18-time all-American, Andrews helped Florida win its first NCAA women’s swimming and diving championship in 1982. She also captured back-to-back Southeastern Conference titles in the 50-yard and 100-yard backstrokes and was part of four relay conference title winning relay teams in 1982 and 1983.

As a member of the Indiana University, Bloomington, squad during the 1980-81 season, Andrews won six Big Ten Conference titles and participated in six events at the 1981 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championships. Andrews went on to earn gold medals in the 100-meter backstroke and as part of the 400-meter medley relay team at the 1984 Olympics.
Andrews has been part of MBNA and Bank of America since 1999, currently as a vice president. She formerly served as a senior clinical social worker at the University of Virginia Health Science Center from 1992 to 1999.

Andrews has volunteered with the U.S. Olympic Alumni Association since 1984 and has been a board member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Swim Club since 2005. She also is a five-time participant in Swim Across America, Inc., a program that raises money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events.

Todd Blackledge
Pennsylvania State University
Football
ESPN/ABC analyst
Blackledge established 26 school records as quarterback at Penn State and led the Nittany Lions to a 29-4 record, two Fiesta Bowl wins and the 1983 national championship with a victory over the University of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The 1982 Davey O’Brien Award winner as the nation’s top college quarterback, Blackledge donated the accompanying $10,000 scholarship to the Penn State Renaissance Fund, which reduces tuition costs for lower-income students.

The first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American and Phi Beta Kappa selection was the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft and the first Penn State quarterback to go in the first round. Blackledge threw for 5,286 yards and 29 touchdowns in a seven-year NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs (1983-87) and Pittsburgh Steelers (1988-89).

After working as an analyst for Big East Conference football games from 1991 to 1993, Blackledge joined ABC Sports and later moved to ESPN in 1997. After a stint at CBS Sports, he rejoined ESPN in 2006 and serves as the lead analyst for ESPN College Football Saturday Primetime and contributes to ESPN’s SportsCenter, College GameDay, ESPN.com and ESPN radio.

A 2004 Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Sports Personality—Sports Event Analyst, Blackledge is an assistant varsity basketball coach at his former high school and has been a Little League and youth basketball coach for the past four years.

Cormac Carney
University of California, Los Angeles
Football
U.S. district judge
A three-year starting wide receiver and a two-time first-team all-Pacific-10 Conference selection in 1981 and 1982, Carney finished his career as the Bruins’ all-time leading receiver and remains tied for No. 11 with 108 receptions for 1,909 yards and eight touchdowns. A transfer from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980, Carney led the Bruins in receiving in each of his three seasons and helped the program compile a 26-7-2 record.

A 1982 NCAA Today’s Top V selection, two-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American and an NCAA postgraduate scholarship winner, Carney graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987.

Carney was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in January 2003 and confirmed by the Senate that April. As a federal judge, he handles complex civil and criminal matters including patents, copyrights, trademarks, securities, business finance, civil rights, drug conspiracies and white-collar crimes. Before his most recent appointment, Carney was a California Superior Court judge appointed by Gov. Gray Davis in 2001. He also practiced business litigation with the firm of O’Melveny & Myers from 1991 to 2001.

Currently director of the board of directors for the UCLA Alumni Association, Carney also is involved with the Federal Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.

Anne Donovan
Old Dominion University
Basketball
WNBA coach
Winner of the 1983 Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year, Donovan led Old Dominion to the 1980 Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women championship and appearances in the 1981 and 1983 NCAA Women’s Final Fours. The two-time Kodak all-American led the nation in blocked shots for four straight years and also led the nation in rebounds in 1982.

Donovan, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and a recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, earned gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics as a member of the U.S. Women’s Basketball National Team. She also was an assistant coach on the 2004 Olympic gold-medal-winning squad.

Currently head coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, Donovan guided the team to the 2004 WNBA championship and previously directed the now-defunct Charlotte Sting to an appearance in the 2001 WNBA finals. The first woman to win more than 100 games in the WNBA, she is a Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Hall of Fame inductee.

The current head coach of the U.S. Women’s Basketball National Team co-authored a book on post play and is a member of the Seattle Storm’s Reading Timeout program. She also participates in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Dot Richardson
University of California, Los Angeles
Softball and basketball
Medical doctor
Richardson, a three-time all-American shortstop at UCLA, helped the Bruins win the 1982 NCAA championship and was twice selected to the all-Women’s College World Series team. The NCAA Player of the Decade (1980s), she batted .367 for her career.

As a member of the U.S. National Softball Team, Richardson is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000) and four-time Pam American Games gold medalist (1979, 1987, 1995, 1999). A four-time selection as USA Softball’s Most Valuable Player, Richardson was named as the United States Olympic Committee’s Athlete of the Year and the Amateur Athletic Foundation Awards Southern California Athlete of the Year in 1996. She was four-time Sullivan Award nominee for outstanding amateur athlete in the United States and has earned numerous awards for community leadership.

Richardson is the medical director of the USA Triathlon National Training Center. She also is vice chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, an advisory group to the president and Secretary of Health and Human Services that focuses on ways to encourage Americans to be physically active, participate in sports and raise awareness of the dangers of obesity. Richardson also has produced a library of softball instructional videotapes and has designed and implemented softball camps and clinics in more than 50 cities nationwide.

Robin Roberts
Southeastern Louisiana University
Basketball
Broadcast journalist
A standout on the court at Southeastern Louisiana, Roberts finished third on the school’s list of career all-time leading scorers (1,446) and rebounders (1,034). She also was one of the only Lady Lions to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds for her career.

Roberts began her rise in broadcasting while in college at WHMD/WFPR Radio in Hammond, Louisiana, where she served as the sports director. As a frequent and versatile contributor to ESPN from 1990 to 2005, she hosted SportsCenter, contributed to NFL PrimeTime and worked as a play-by-play commentator and host for the network’s WNBA games and specials. She also was the primary reporter for ESPN’s coverage of the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, the NCAA Men’s Final Four, NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship and LPGA events.

A contributor to ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” since June 1995, Roberts became an anchor for the morning news show in 2005. She also has hosted other ABC programs including “Good Morning America Sunday” and “Prime Time.”
The recipient of multiple honors, she was named as a “Louisiana Legend” in 2001 by the Louisiana Public Broadcasting and, in 1996, she earned the Distinguished Achievement Award in Broadcasting from the University of Georgia’s DiGamma Kappa, the nation’s oldest professional broadcasting society. Roberts published her first book, “From the Heart: Seven Rules to Live By,” in March 2007.
 
Robert Woodruff
Colgate University
Lacrosse
Broadcast journalist
A four-time varsity letter-winner in lacrosse at Colgate, Woodruff is the Raiders’ career record holder in goals (184) and points scored in a single season (82). He also ranks second in career points and single-season goals scored.

Woodruff earned a degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where he also managed a charity called Jazz for Life, which raised money for inner-city schools.

Woodruff joined ABC News in 1996 and was named co-anchor of the network’s “World News Tonight” in December 2005. As the anchor of the weekend edition of the news show, he has covered major stories such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami and, in 2005, gained unprecedented access to North Korea.

He earned an Alfred I. duPont Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism, for his coverage of Pope John Paul II’s death.

On January 29, 2006, Woodruff sustained serious injuries in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq while reporting on American and Iraqi security forces. A year later, Woodruff and his wife Lee co-wrote a memoir, “In an Instant,” chronicling the experience.

The family also established the Bob Woodruff Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to raise money to help members of the military with rehabilitation and care after suffering traumatic brain injuries in service to the country. In addition, for the past seven years,

Woodruff has served on the board of Kid Save, an organization that helps older orphans in the Soviet Union, South America and the United States become adopted in America.