July 1, 2008
WALTHAM, Mass. and TAMPA, Fla.– Two former ACC student-athletes were among the five members of the 2008 class of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Hall of Fame®. Induction ceremonies were held on Monday, June 30 at the CoSIDA Convention in Tampa, Fla.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar (Duke University, class of 1986) captured four individual ACC titles for the Blue Devils before earning glory at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with three swimming gold medals. Amy Privette Perko (Wake Forest University, class of 1987) was the first female Academic All-America in school history and current Executive Director of the Knight Foundation Commission. They become the seventh and eighth inductees from ACC member institutions in the 103-member Hall of Fame.
The other three members of this year's class are Dr. Kenneth Caldwell (The Citadel, class of 1979), a gridiron standout who served in the United States Army Reserve for eight years, including a tour of duty in Operation Desert Storm, and has been Citadel’s team physician since 1989; Karen Jennings (University of Nebraska, class of 1993), the Wade Trophy recipient as a senior and the two-time Academic All-America of the Year for the Huskers; and Rebecca Lobo (University of Connecticut, class of 1995), a consensus national Player of the Year selection who guided the Huskies to a perfect season as a senior before enjoying more success in the WNBA.
CoSIDA established the Hall of Fame to honor former college student-athletes who have excelled in their professions and made substantial contributions to their communities. To be eligible for the Hall of Fame, a candidate either had to be an Academic All-America® team member who graduated at least 10 years ago, or fall into the honorary category, as was the case with Hogshead-Makar.
Honorary inductees are eligible candidates who competed prior to the establishment of the Academic All-America program in their sport.
“The class of 2008 again reflects the types of individuals who exemplify everything positive about the Academic All-America program and the Hall of Fame,” said Charles Bloom of the Southeastern Conference, the 2007-08 CoSIDA president. “CoSIDA, and its members, are once again extremely proud to be a part of this great program.”
The Hall of Fame is an offshoot of CoSIDA’s core Academic All-America program, which is sponsored by ESPN the Magazine. CoSIDA recognizes over 800 athletes annually as Academic All-Americas, and also selects in excess of 2,000 annually for Academic All-District honors.
AMY PRIVETTE PERKO
After establishing herself as one of the top women’s basketball players in Wake Forest history, Amy Privette Perko has risen to national prominence in her career as the leader of one of the most influential athletic governing bodies in the nation.
A two-time all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection on the court, Perko shined brightly in the classroom as well, earning three Academic All-America citations, including two first team spots as a junior and senior. She ranks as the second all-time leading scorer in Demon Deacon history with 1,722 points, and she holds the Wake Forest facility record with 38 points against Appalachian State on January 3, 1986. Perko, who earned her degree in History in 1987 with a 3.85 GPA, averaged 15.7 points per game during her career and was inducted into her alma mater’s Athletic Hall of Fame in January 2000.
Perko worked as a services and enforcement representative at the NCAA for six years before moving on to the University of Kansas in 1996, where she served as both Associate Athletics Director and Senior Women’s Administrator. She left Lawrence in 2001 to become the President of the NBA Development League’s Fayetteville Patriots before assuming duties with the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in 2003, first as Associate Director for two years before becoming Executive Director in 2005.
Perko has been actively involved in several organizations in both her church and community and has also served as a Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity volunteer. Amy and her husband, Rick, are the parents of two daughters: Anna and Kate.
NANCY HOGSHEAD-MAKAR
One of the greatest swimmers in Olympic history, Nancy Hogshead-Makar has enjoyed great success both in the athletic and academic communities throughout her career.
Hogshead-Makar, who is this year’s honorary Hall of Fame inductee, showed her brilliance in the pool in just one season of competition at Duke, where she captured four individual ACC championships and earned two All-America accolades. Hogshead-Makar set school records in all nine events that she swam for the Blue Devils, one of which still stands today, and she earned her degree in Political Science from Duke in 1986.
Hogshead-Makar’s swimming success did not end in Durham and was thrust onto an international stage in Los Angeles during the 1984 Summer Olympics, where she captured gold medals in the 100 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay and a silver medal in the 200 intermediate. She also served as a swimming analyst for several major networks at the 1986 Goodwill Games and the 1990 Olympic Games.
One of the country’s foremost experts as an attorney for gender equity within athletics, Hogshead-Makar serves currently as a Professor of Law at the Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Fla. after working for four years in the firm of Holland & Knight. She served as President of the Women’s Sports Foundation from 1992 through 1994 and served as an advisor to President Clinton on the National Service Act. Hogshead-Makar, who became the first female inductee into Duke’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, has served on the boards of numerous companies and organizations and earned her law degree from Georgetown University in 1997.
The honorary category allows CoSIDA to recognize outstanding student-athletes who didn't have the opportunity to earn Academic All-America honors because the program didn't exist in their sport at the time they were competing. Past honorary inductees have included Governor Raymond Shafer of Pennsylvania, Supreme Court Justice Byron White, Coach John Wooden and Rolf Benirschke of the San Diego Chargers.
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HALL OF FAME® MEMBERS FROM ACC MEMBER INSTITUTIONS
Tom McMillen, Maryland '74 (1988)
Wade Mitchell, Georgia Tech '57 (1996)
Bernie Kosar, Miami '85 (1998)
Val Ackerman, Virginia '81 (1999)
Susan Walsh, North Carolina '84 (2002)
Michael Gminski, Duke ‘80 (2006)
Amy Privette Perko, Wake Forest ‘87 (2008)
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Duke ‘86 (2008)
