INDIANAPOLIS --- Six former NCAA student-athletes have been named recipients of the 2006 Silver Anniversary Award.

The award recognizes former student-athletes who completed successful collegiate careers in various sports 25 years ago and went on to excel in their chosen professions.

The awards will be presented at the NCAA Honors Celebration on Saturday, January 7, during the annual NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. The Convention will serve as the kick-off to the NCAA’s Centennial with the theme, Celebrating the Student-Athlete.

The Silver Award winners are selected by the NCAA Honors Committee, which comprises eight athletics administrators at member institutions and nationally distinguished citizens who are former student-athletes. The committee members are: Cedric W. Dempsey, president emeritus, NCAA; Susan Hartmann, professor of history, Ohio State University; Calvin Hill, consultant, Dallas Cowboys; Gibbs Knotts, faculty-athletics representative, Western Carolina University; Valerie A. Richardson, associate athletics director for intercollegiate sporst programs and senior woman administrator, Columbia University; Julie Power Ruppert, associate commissioner and senior woman’s administrator, America East Conference; Thomas J. Brown, commissioner, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference; and Timothy W. Gleason, commissioner, Ohio Athletic Conference.

This year’s Silver Anniversary Award honorees are Valerie B. Ackerman (University of Virginia, women’s basketball); Danny Ainge (Brigham Young University, men’s basketball); Charles E. Davis (Vanderbilt University, men’s basketball); Dr. Terry Schroeder (Pepperdine University, men’s water polo); Michael Singletary (Baylor University, football); and Susan D. Wellington (Yale University, women’s swimming and softball).

Following are biographical sketches of the 2006 award winners.

Valerie B. Ackerman
University of Virginia
Women’s Basketball
President, USA Basketball

A four year starter, three-time team captain and two-time academic all-American, Ackerman’s collegiate basketball career concluded by being named the Atlantic Coast Conference scholar athlete of the year and receiving the Jettie Hill Award for the highest grade-point average among all Virginia female athletes. Following graduation, Ackerman played professional basketball in France for one year.

After obtaining her law degree from University of California, Los Angeles, Ackerman worked for a major New York City law firm before being hired as a staff attorney for the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1988. From 1990-1992, she served as special assistant to NBA Commissioner David Stern, then was named NBA vice president of business affairs in 1994. In 1996, she was appointed the first-ever president of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) where she served until being named to her current post as president of USA Basketball in 1995.

As a member of the Board of Directors of USA Basketball, Ackerman was instrumental in the formation of the 1995-96 USA Basketball Women’s National Team, which won the 1996 Olympic gold medal in Atlanta. In 2005, Ackerman was named a recipient of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association President’s Award and also received the inaugural Sports Business Woman of the Year Award given by the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.

Ackerman currently serves on the National Board of Trustees for the March of Dimes and the National Board of Directors of Girls, Incorporated. She is a board member for USA Basketball and serves on the Executive Committee for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2005, Ackerman was appointed a member of the Knight Commission.

Danny Ainge
Brigham Young University
Men’s Basketball
Executive Director of Basketball Operations, Boston Celtics

A three-sport high school athlete, Ainge was drafted in the 15th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. While playing collegiate basketball at Brigham Young, Ainge spent his first three years also playing professional baseball at Toronto.

Named both the 1981 John Wooden and Eastman Award winner, Ainge averaged 24.4 points per game during his senior season. Ainge still holds several individual season and career records at Brigham Young and is the only Brigham Young men’s basketball player to have his jersey retired.

After graduation, Ainge was selected in the second round of the 1981 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft and spent 14 seasons playing for the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings, Portland Trailblazers and Phoenix Suns. A member of two world championship teams with the Celtics (1984, 1986), Ainge is only one of three retired NBA players to make 1,000 three-point shots.

Hired as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns, Ainge was promoted to head coach eight games into the year. Ainge served as an NBA game and studio analyst for Turner Sports before being named Executive Director of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics in 2003.

Ainge has worked with several community and charitable organizations including the Children’s Miracle Network, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Stay-In-School campaign and Special Olympics. He remains actively involved with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ainge and wife Michelle, have six children and two grandchildren.

Charles E. Davis
Vanderbilt University
Men’s Basketball
Founder and Executive Director, Charles Davis Foundation

After completing a successful career at Vanderbilt, Davis spent more than a decade playing professional basketball in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and internationally in Italy and Japan. After playing with the NBA’s Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, Davis was a member of the men’s basketball coaching staff at his alma mater, Vanderbilt.

In 1982, Davis founded the Charles Davis Foundation whose mission is to empower inner city youth to reach their full potential through PEACE – Positive, Education, Athletic, Cultural and Economic development. Davis has positively impacted the Nashville community by providing an alternative lifestyle for inner city youth.

The Charles Davis Foundation is based in Nashville and includes learning centers for youth in first through 12th grades, a Senior Saints program, camps and year-round activities for inner city children and their families and other cultural and athletics opportunities.

Davis is also co-founder and President-Chief Executive Officer of CNT Enterprises, LLC, for real estate development and construction management.

Davis has received numerous awards for his achievements including being named to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, receiving the professional achievement award by the Vanderbilt Alumni Association and also being named the 1994 Civitan’s Nashville Citizen of the Year. In 2004, he was named one of the 10 Most Influential African-Americans in Nashville Sports History.

Dr. Terry Schroeder
Pepperdine University
Men’s Water Polo
Head Men’s Water Polo Coach, Pepperdine University
Chiropractor

Named a 1981 NCAA Top Ten Scholar-Athlete, Schroeder was the leading scorer on the Pepperdine men’s water polo team during three of his four years. While competing at Pepperdine, he was selected to the United States national water polo team. Schroeder is the only United States four-time water polo Olympian in history, earning two silver medals. In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he was selected to carry the United States flag for Team USA in the closing ceremonies.

Twice named the best water polo player in the world by Swimming World magazine, Schroeder has been the men’s head water polo coach at Pepperdine since 1986. In his 19 years as head coach, he has led the team to eight NCAA Championship appearances and one NCAA title and has coached more than 20 all-Americans and one Olympian, compiling a .606 winning percentage overall. Schroeder has also worked as a water polo color analyst for TBS Sports, Prime Network, USA Cable and Bud Sports.

Schroeder graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine with a degree in sports medicine and later attended chiropractic school. Currently, Schroeder and his wife Lori, also a chiropractor, donate their services to numerous organizations including the Special Olympics, the YMCA and several schools, as well as providing complimentary care to underprivileged patients. Schroeder designed and developed a posture-friendly backpack for children and donates hundreds of the Posture Packs to needy children nationwide.

Schroeder has served as a traveling ambassador in the United States and Europe for the 1985-86 Goodwill Games in Moscow, as well as the co-chairman for Barbara Bush’s organization, Project Literacy United States. A champion for children and the underprivileged, he works as an inspirational, motivational and instructional speaker at various camps, clinics, schools and civic organizations, and for 19 years, has donated sessions of summer water polo camps to charity organizations.

Michael Singletary
Baylor University
Football
Assistant Head Coach, Linebackers Coach; San Francisco 49ers

A four-year middle linebacker letterman who served as captain of the Baylor football team during his junior and senior campaigns, Singletary still owns six Baylor records. He was named to Baylor’s all-decade teams of both the 1970s and the 1980s, as well as the school’s defensive player of the decade for the 1980s. The list of accolades includes being named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Decade for the 1980s; named to Baylor’s All-Hall Century Football Team; inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame; and inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Following his career as a Baylor Bear, Singletary was selected in the second round of the 1981 National Football League (NFL) draft by the Chicago Bears, where he played for 12 seasons. Selected to 10 consecutive Pro Bowls, Singletary was named to the NFL Team of the 1980s.

While in Chicago, Singletary won a Super Bowl championship and two Associated Press NFL defensive player of the year awards. Singletary was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility for the honor and in 1990, was named the NFL Man of the Year for his community service work and his excellence on the football field.

After retiring from professional football, Singletary co-founded The Leadership Zone, a company that provides leadership and motivational training. He often speaks to Fortune 500 companies about diversity, teamwork and leadership, and serves as a consultant with ServiceMaster Corp. and CoMark Corp. Singletary is a board member of Tranzact and Successories, Inc., and has authored three books.

Following two years coaching with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, Singletary is currently an assistant head coach/linebackers coach with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. A father of seven with wife Kim, he is most proud of being named the Father of the Year by the National Fatherhood Initiative.

Susan D. Wellington
Yale University
Women’s Swimming and Softball
Former President, Gatorade

A multi-sport athlete at Yale, Wellington competed in softball and served as a captain and all-American in swimming. She continues to be involved with Yale athletics as one of nine founding members of W.I.S.E.R., Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Endowment and Resource, a $1 million dollar endowment for women’s athletics at Yale.

Beginning her career at Quaker Oats, Wellington rose through the corporate ranks to hold posts as Vice President of Marketing for Gatorade and Vice President of Strategy and World-wide Market Development. She was President of Gatorade from 1998 through 2002.

Recognized throughout the marketing world as a strong brand-builder, Wellington has been named Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal’s Top 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports, Brandweek’s Power 50 and Crain’s Business ‘Top 40 under 40.’

Wellington, currently a director of the CDW Corporation, left Gatorade in 2002 to spend more time with her family. Currently, she is a member of the board of trustees and executive committee of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and a minority owner of the Chicago Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) franchise. Wellington is also a recreational tri-athlete.