BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Diver Paige Brown and tennis player Kevin Dessauer have been nominated by LSU for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship.
The H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship has been presented by the Southeastern Conference since 1986 to the league’s top male and female scholar-athletes.
The Southeastern Conference will name the 2008 recipients of the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship on April 6 in conjunction with National Student-Athlete Day.
Brown, a senior from Baton Rouge, La., has earned a 3.91 grade point average, majoring in Biological Engineering. She is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2007-08 honor roll released later in spring). She has received LSU’s Wally Pontiff, Jr. Academic Excellence Award twice, given to the top LSU male and female scholar-athlete.
She earned the Richard L. Bengston Scholarship and the Carl H. Thomas Memorial Scholarship, both given by the Department of Biological Engineering at LSU.
Brown placed third at the 2007 SEC Championships in the platform and was a U.S. Diving National Championship qualifier in the platform the last three years. She earned Most Improved Diver Awards at LSU in 2006 and 2007.
She is an active member in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and served an internship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute during the summer of 2007, supporting research on the detection of apoptosis. She is also a group leader for a senior design group on a proposal for the detection of apoptotic cells.
Dessauer, a senior from Metairie, La., has earned a 4.00 grade point average, with a major in Kinesiology. He is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2007-08 honor roll released later in spring) and was named the men’s tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007.
He was the 2006 and 2007 Tiger Athletic Foundation Student-Athlete of the Year and was a 2007 ESPN The Magazine first-team Academic All-American. He has earned LSU’s Wally Pontiff, Jr. Academic Excellence Award three times and is a member of LSU’s Chancellor’s List and the Athletic Director’s Cup.
Athletically, Dessauer is ranked #53 in the nation in singles and has reached #44 in doubles during his Tiger career. Last season, he was second-team All-SEC. He is a four-year letterwinner at LSU and a three-year starter.
In the Baton Rouge community, his work has benefitted children in Christmas toy drives for underprivileged children, visits with children at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, the Louisiana School for the Deaf and at local elementary schools. He is a member of the LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and also a volunteer during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The SEC Office will be releasing each of its institution’s nominees periodically until the April 6 winners are announced. The schedule is as follows:
Alabama ? Joseph Sykora, Golf (Male) / Jordan Praytor, Softball (Female)
Arkansas ? Tyler Hill, Track & Field (Male) / Stacy Lewis, Golf (Female)
Auburn ? Cole Bennett, Football (Male) / Kristen Hastrup, Swimming & Diving (Female)
Florida ? Kevin Nead, Swimming & Diving (Male) / Bianca Gibbs, Soccer (Female)
Georgia ? Ian Burrell, Track & Field (Male) / Karen Guilkey, Swimming & Diving (Female)
Kentucky ? Greg Dombrowski, Baseball (Male) / Ashley Dimkich, Softball (Female)
LSU ? Kevin Dessauer, Tennis (Male) / Paige Brown, Swimming & Diving (Female)
Ole Miss ? March 28
Miss. State ? March 31
South Carolina ? April 1
Tennessee ? April 2
Vanderbilt ? April 3
National Student-Athlete Day was created in 1987 by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS) and Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society, and presented by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
National Student-Athlete Day is held each April 6 to celebrate outstanding student-athletes who have achieved excellence in academics and athletics while having made significant contributions to the community. It is also a time to recognize those parents, teachers, coaches and school systems which make it possible for young people to find the balance between academics and athletics.
Each year, the SEC, in conjunction with AT&T, an SEC Corporate Champion sponsor, provides the league’s male and female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship recipients with a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship. The 22 remaining male and female finalists for the award will also receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship. The award recipients are chosen by a committee of Faculty Athletics Representatives from the 12 SEC institutions and are honored at the SEC Spring Meetings in Sandestin, Fla. on May 29.
Last year’s recipients were Alabama baseball player Emeel Salem and Vanderbilt track and field athlete Erika Schneble.