Content Listing

Yvonne Gutierrez: From fastballs to fighting fires

Yvonne Gutierrez, a three-time NCAA softball champion at UCLA, now serves the people of Southern California as a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Gutierrez credits her college coaches with keeping her focused on academics and credits athletics with preparing her for a career as a firefighter and fire engineer.

Steven L. Smith: From father to son

NASA Associate Director for the International Space Station and former astronaut Steve Smith has been to space four times and embarked upon seven grueling spacewalks. He is adamant that the time he spent balancing college water polo with his studies at Stanford University provided an invaluable foundation for his career.

Courtney Stephenson: From handsprings to medical innovations

As a former gymnast at Southern Connecticut State and now a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Dr. Courtney Stephenson knows the value of dedicating herself to a greater goal.

Stevan Savich: Banking on success

Stevan Savich went from a standout football player at the University of Indianapolis to a successful businessman in the banking industry. His experiences on the football field, as well as in the classroom while earning his economics degree, helped him obtain a career with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Patricia Melton: Running toward a purpose

Patricia Melton has faced many challenges in her life, but nothing she could not handle. The former Yale University track star and current executive director of New Haven Promise gives back so others can obtain an education and useful professional experience.

Travis Dorsch: Master of many domains

Combining a love for learning with a passion to give back to the sports that gave him so much, former Purdue University multisport athlete Travis Dorsch has found his true calling as a developmental researcher and assistant professor at Utah State University.

Carol Stiff pivots from college athlete to ESPN executive

Carol Stiff has established herself as a leader in women’s college sports, having worked at ESPN for more than 20 years and helping shape programming and content for espnW. Stiff credits the lessons learned in college sports for her success in life.

Drew Meyer is translating athletics success in college to achievement in business

Drew Meyer, a former All-America baseball player from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, who also played professionally, went back to school to finish what he started. He completed his degree.

Pellom McDaniels: 5 lessons college sports taught me

For Pellom McDaniels, a former Oregon State University football player, sport played a large role in his life. After college, he went on to play in the NFL, earned a Ph.D. in American studies, and then joined the faculty at Emory University.

Brent Lang: 5 lessons college sports taught me

Brent Lang is a four-time NCAA champion and Olympic gold medalist swimmer from the University of Michigan. While his athletic accomplishments in college and beyond were extraordinary, Lang also thrived in the classroom and went on to become president and CEO of a successful company.

April Holmes has always had a need for speed

April Holmes is a former track and field student-athlete from Norfolk State University. Despite losing one of her legs below the knee in a freak accident, Holmes became not only a successful motivational speaker and author but also a multi-medal winner in the Paralympics as a sprinter.

Dr. Tamyra Rogers: Former Oklahoma women’s basketball standout takes on obesity epidemic

Former University of Oklahoma basketball star Dr. Tamyra Rogers once fought to keep the school’s basketball program alive. She succeeded and the challenge would prepare her for what came next. Since graduating in 1990, she has engaged in a more daunting battle – combating America’s obesity epidemic.

Matt Grace and Sean Joiner: Teammates beyond the gridiron

When Matt Grace and Sean Joiner put on their football pads at Catholic University for the first time, they hoped they would leave college with great memories, cherished friendships and academic degrees that prepared them for the real world. Little did they know just how formative those years would be.

Lisa Caputo: Field of dreams

From the competition field to public service to the private sector, Lisa Caputo knows what it takes to succeed.

Dan Guerrero: Pioneering role model who followed his dreams

Growing up in a blue-collar town in southern California, Dan Guerrero placed his hope for a better life in sports and the pursuit of a college degree. Knowing he wanted to excel in sports and in life, he looked to his community’s heavyweight boxing stars, fellow Hispanics and other minority athletes for inspiration. One of those athletes just happened to be Jackie Robinson.

John Galgano: Man of many talents

An attorney, musician and actor, Galgano excels on all stages because of the teamwork mentality he learned through college sports.

Billy Mills: Hero to Native Americans and Olympians everywhere

Billy Mills began life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. His Lakota name, “Makoce Te’hila,” means “Loves His Country” or, more traditionally, “Respects the Earth.” Orphaned by age 13, he faced poverty and discrimination but drew strength from running. Nothing has stopped him since.

Whitey Kapsalis: Working on a dream

Even when Paul “Whitey” Kapsalis’ dream came true, it was still a work in progress.

Sandra Magnus: Soaring to new heights

Magnus took the value of teamwork learned on the soccer field to outer space when she boarded the space shuttle Atlantis for its final mission in 2011.

Jim Crane: From the ball diamond to the board room and back

Crane’s success has gone full circle, starting on the baseball diamond at University of Central Missouri to now being the owner and chairman of the Houston Astros.

Gene Smith: Five things I’ve learned

Gene Smith, a widely recognized leader in college athletics, shares lessons that catapulted him to the top of his profession.

Ken Corigliano: Serving his country and getting down and dirty

Corigliano ran cross country at Saint Leo University from 2002-06. He graduated magna cum laude from the institution in 2006 and now serves in the U.S. Air Force. In 2009, he was selected as the Chief of U.S. Official Government Travel Intelligence Operations for all official U.S. government international dignitary travel.

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