One of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics, the Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student-athlete from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.” The 14 institutions of the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

feature over 10,000 student-athletes, more than any other conference, and only 28 of those individuals are recognized each year with the Big Ten Medal of Honor. In the nearly 100 years of the Medal of Honor, just over 1,300 student-athletes have earned this distinction. The medal features the Latin phrase ''Mens fervida in corpore lacertoso'' ("a fervent mind in a vigorous body") on one side and the student's name and the phrase ''For Scholarship and Athletic Prowess'' on the reverse side.

History

The award was first given in 1915. It was the first award in intercollegiate athletics to demonstrate support of the educational emphasis placed on athletics and honor those who embody the values of the " student athlete". Although originally awarded only to male athletes, since 1982, a female athlete from each institution has also been recognized.

Notable recipients

The Big Ten Medal of Honor has been awarded to numerous decorated athletes who achieved success after college both in athletics and beyond, including: * NCAA 10-time National Champion Coach

John R. Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships in a 12-year period as hea ...

(

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

) * NFL quarterbacks and

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

-winners

Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese (pronounced ; born February 3, 1945) is a former American football quarterback who earned All-American honors with the Purdue Boilermakers before being drafted in 1967 by the American Football League's Miami Dolphins. Gries ...

and

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

(Purdue) * Seven-time

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of al ...

and member of the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

Jerry Lucas Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State, and 1960 gold medal Olympian and international player before later starring as a p ...

(

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

) * NFL safety and the first African-American coach to win a Super Bowl

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

(

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) *

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

catcher and three-time

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

champion

Joe Girardi Joseph Elliott Girardi (born October 14, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Girardi played the catcher position for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, New York Yankees, and St. ...

( Northwestern) * College Football Hall of Fame member and football coach

Pat Fitzgerald Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr. (born December 2, 1974) is the current head coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats football team. He was selected after the unexpected death of Randy Walker and announced at a press conference on July 7, 2 ...

(Northwestern) * Olympic swimmer and Gold medalist

Davis Tarwater Davis Edward Tarwater (born March 24, 1984) is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and began competitive swimming at age seven. During high school, he set three state swimming records and led Webb ...

(

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

) * Former baseball player turned sports agent

Casey Close Casey Richard Close (born October 21, 1963) is a former American baseball player and sports agent. University of Michigan Close was born in Columbus, Ohio and graduated from Worthington High School before attending the University of Michigan on ...

(Michigan) *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Gold medalist gymnast

Abie Grossfeld Abie Grossfeld (born March 1, 1934) is an American gymnastics coach and former gymnast. Grossfeld has represented the United States as a gymnastics competitor or coach in seven Olympic Games, seven World Championships, six Maccabiah Games, and f ...

(

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

) * Collegiate track and field coach Francis X. Cretzmeyer (

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

) * Professional soccer players

Joanna Lohman Joanna Christie Lohman (born June 26, 1982) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder/ defender who last played for the Washington Spirit of the American National Women's Soccer League. She previously played for the Washington Freed ...

(

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Emily Zurrer Emily Jane Zurrer (born July 12, 1987) is a Canadian soccer player who played for Swedish club Jitex BK in the Damallsvenskan and the Canada women's national soccer team. She previously played for Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer ...

(Illinois),

Vanessa DiBernardo Vanessa Sue DiBernardo (born May 15, 1992) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for and captained Chicago Red Stars. Internationally, ...

(Illinois), and

Britt Eckerstrom Britt Ellen Eckerstrom (born May 28, 1993) is a retired American soccer player who played as a goalkeeper for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She previously played for the Western New York Flash. Club career Pe ...

(Penn State) *Nine-time letterman and

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

credited with rescuing Badger athletics Pat Richter (

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

) * Businessman Keith Nosbusch, chairman and CEO of

Rockwell Automation Inc. Rockwell Automation, Inc. is an American provider of industrial automation whose brands include Allen-Bradley, FactoryTalk software and LifecycleIQ Services. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 26,000 ...

(Wisconsin) * NASA astronaut

Michael S. Hopkins Michael Scott Hopkins (born December 28, 1968) is a United States Space Force colonel and NASA astronaut. Hopkins was selected in June 2009 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20. He made his first spaceflight as a Flight Engineer on Soyu ...

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List of winners

References

{{Reflist Awards established in 1915 Big Ten Conference 1915 establishments in the United States College conference trophies and awards in the United States Student athlete awards in the United States