Burkett Named Semifinalist for 2012 National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award

St. Louis, Mo., October 1, 2012 — Washington University in St. Louis senior quarterback Dan Burkett was announced as a semifinalist for The National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete Award, presented by Fidelity Investments. Burkett is one of 147 semifinalists who hail from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, including 41 from Division III.

The 147 nominees also comprise the list of semifinalists for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

Burkett, a three-year letterwinner for the Bears, has thrown for 531 yards and three touchdowns this season for Washington U. He was a first-team all-University Athletic Association (UAA) selection in 2011 after completing 126-of-230 passes for 1,639 yards and 16 touchdowns. Burkett led the conference in passing (163.9 p/g), pass efficiency (131.5) and total offense (182.4 p/g). He was also chosen as the UAA Athlete of the Week on Oct. 24 and Nov. 14.

In addition to his success on the field, Burkett is a three-time Dean’s List recipient, two-time Academic All-UAA and 2012 UAA Presidents Scholar-Athlete selection. He has a 3.5 grade point average and will graduate in May with a degree in biology and a minor in healthcare management.

Burkett has been active in the Washington University community throughout his career on the Danforth Campus. He serves as an advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is a mentor/tutor for the Books & Basketball. Burkett is also a member of Moneythink – a community outreach program to promote financial literacy, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Sigma Chi Fraternity.

2003 Washington University graduate Brandon Roberts was selected as the 2002 William V. Campbell Trophy Award winner, becoming the first and only non-Division I student-athlete to receive the award. 1998 graduate Brad Klein and 2004 graduate John Woock were selected as finalists in 1997 and 2003, respectively.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 16 recipients, and the results will be announced via a national press release on Thursday, Oct. 25. Each recipient will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, and they will vie as finalists for the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy. Each member of the 2012 National Scholar-Athlete Class will also travel to New York City to be honored Dec. 4 during the 55th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. One member of the class will also be announced live at the event as the winner of the Campbell Trophy.

Named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and increases the amount of the recipient's grant by $7,000 for a total post-graduate scholarship of $25,000. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, pushing the program's all-time distributions to more than $10.1 million.
Launched in 1959, the NFF scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to award post-graduate scholarships based on both a player's academic and athletic accomplishments. The Campbell Trophy, first awarded in 1990, adds to the program's mystique, having previously honored two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and five first-round NFL draft picks.

The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy include: Air Force's Chris Howard (1990); Florida's Brad Culpepper (1991); Colorado's Jim Hansen (1992); Virginia's Thomas Burns (1993); Nebraska's Rob Zatechka (1994); Ohio State's Bobby Hoying (1995); Florida's Danny Wuerffel (1996); Tennessee's Peyton Manning (1997); Georgia's Matt Stinchcomb (1998); Marshall's Chad Pennington (1999); Nebraska's Kyle Vanden Bosch (2000); Miami's (Fla.) Joaquin Gonzalez (2001); Washington University’s Brandon Roberts (2002); Ohio State's Craig Krenzel (2003); Tennessee's Michael Munoz (2004); LSU's Rudy Niswanger (2005); Rutgers' Brian Leonard (2006); Texas' Dallas Griffin (2007); Cal's Alex Mack (2008); Florida's Tim Tebow (2009); Texas' Sam Acho (2010); and Army's Andrew Rodriguez (2011).