Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame Finalists announced.

May 8, 2003

UCLA's Sheila Cornell Douty, Julie Foudy, Joe Girardi and Steve Young are among a group of 25 finalists for induction into the 16th annual Verizon Academic All-America Hall of Fame." Four of the finalists will be inducted at ceremonies in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 28.

The former GTE, in cooperation with the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), established the Hall of Fame in 1988 to honor former college student-athletes who have excelled in their professions and made substantial contributions to their communities. To be eligible, a candidate had to be an Academic All-America team member who graduated at least 10 years ago.

The Hall of Fame finalists were chosen from a group of more than 150 nominees and were selected by a 90-member voting board representing CoSIDA's 1,800 members. CBS broadcaster Dick Enberg, the spokesman for the Verizon Academic All-America program, will serve as master of ceremonies at this year's 16th annual induction. There are currently 73 members of the Hall of Fame.

Cornell Douty, a 1985 graduate of UCLA, was a member of the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Gold Medal softball teams. Foudy, a 1993 graduate of Stanford, is the captain of the U.S. National women's soccer team and currently a member of the San Diego Spirit of the WUSA. Girardi (Northwestern/1986) is a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals who was a three-time All-Big 10 player and a member of the Yankees' 1996 World Series championship team. Young (Brigham Young/1984) is an NFL studio analyst for ESPN who retired as the highest-rated quarterback in NFL history.

Other finalists include former Oklahoma basketball player Alvan Adams, former Texas A&M football player Kip Corrington, former Western Maryland soccer and softball player Dr. Claudie Henemyre-Harris, former Nebraska and pro football player Dave Rimington, former Southern California volleyball player Katie Haller, former Penn State wrestler Dr. James Martin and former UMass basketball player Susan Peters.

Under an agreement with CoSIDA, GTE, now Verizon, has been the exclusive sponsor of the Academic All-America program since 1985. Verizon, America's literacy champion, strongly believes that literacy is a key ingredient to success and outstanding achievements in life. The Academic All-America program is part of Verizon Reads, the company's national campaign to promote literacy through corporate philanthropy, partner collaboration, community outreach, and customer and employee participation.

A Fortune 10 company, Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with 136.6 million access line equivalents and 33.3 million Verizon Wireless customers. Verizon is the third-largest long-distance carrier for U.S. consumers, with 13.2 million long-distance lines, and the company is also the largest directory publisher in the world, as measured by directory titles and circulation. With approximately $67 billion in annual revenues and 227,000 employees, Verizon's global presence extends to the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

For more information on the Verizon Academic All-America program, visit www.cosida.com.

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2003 VERIZON ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HALL OF FAME FINALISTS
NameSportSchool/Grad Yr.
Alvan AdamsBasketballOklahoma/1998
Karen Blem KillenX-CountryVCU/1990
Brian BransonBasketballElon/1987
Kenneth CaldwellFootballCitadel/1979
Rick CeroneBaseballSeton Hall/1976
Sheila Cornell DoutySoftballUCLA/1985
Kip CorringtonFootballTexas A&M/1987
Kathy CottinghamLacrosseDrew/1990
Megan DonnellyField HockeyMassachusetts/1986
Julie FoudySoccerStanford/1993
Joe GirardiBaseballNorthwestern/1986
Mike GiminskiBasketballDuke/1980
Tim GreenFootballSyracuse/1986
Katie HallerVolleyballUSC/1983
Chris HowardFootballAir Force/1991
Mark KelsoFootballWilliam & Mary/1985
Brent LangSwimmingMichigan/1990
Dr. James MartinWrestlingPenn State/1989
Paul McDonaldFootballUSC/1980
Kim Mulkey RobertsonBasketballLa. Tech/1984
Jim PaxsonBasketballDayton/1979
Dave RimingtonFootballNebraska/1990
Jacque Struckoff StedmanX-CountryKansas St./1988
Tracy WarrenSoftballCollege of New Jersey/1988
Steve YoungFootballBYU/1984