Bob Woodruff ’83, a member of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Athletic Hall of Honor and standout lacrosse player before his career in journalism, was among seven former NCAA student-athletes to receive the prestigious 2008 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.
The award recognizes former student-athletes who have completed successful collegiate careers in various sports and have excelled in their chosen professions.
The awards were presented Sunday, Jan. 13, at the NCAA convention in Nashville. Woodruff could not attend because he was on assignment for ABC News, but he sent a videotaped message. ESPN2 is scheduled to air the ceremony at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1.
The other honorees were: Theresa Andrews (University of Florida, swimming); Todd Blackledge (Pennsylvania State University, football); Cormac Carney (University of California, Los Angeles, football); Anne Donovan (Old Dominion University, basketball); Dot Richardson (University of California, Los Angeles, softball and basketball); and Robin Roberts (Southeastern Louisiana University, basketball).
Inducted into 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2006, Woodruff set the career record for goals with 131 and is second in career points with 184. A four-year letterwinner at attack, he also holds the single-season record for points with 82 and his 50 goals ranks second on the single-season list.
Woodruff joined ABC in 1996 and covered countless international stories, including the war in Afghanistan, life behind the curtain in North Korea, and the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia.
Within weeks of being named co-anchor of World News Tonight in December 2005, Woodruff was seriously injured by a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle near Taji, Iraq, while he was reporting on the war against Iraq.
Woodruff suffered a traumatic brain injury that required months of arduous rehabilitation. He would return to work in the fall of 2007 to develop a documentary about his journey and that of other soldiers with traumatic brain injury.
He and his wife, Lee McConaughy Woodruff ’82, wrote a book about their experiences titled In an Instant: A Family’s Journey of Love and Healing. The family also established the Bob Woodruff Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury to raise money to help members of the military suffering traumatic brain injuries.
The Woodruffs were at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s 186th commencement in 2007, and the couple spoke about the important role the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø community played in Bob’s recovery during a special
Bob continues to work for ABC News, and Lee recently joined ABC’s Good Morning America program as a life and family contributor.