“For every hour you spend on the athletic field, spend two in the library.”
— Arthur Ashe Jr.
This year’s annual tribute to student-athletes takes on special meaning as it is the 15th anniversary of the death of tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. for whom the award is named.
Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993 after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion following double-bypass surgery. But before his untimely death at the age of 49, Ashe already had an impressive academic, athletic, social and civil rights résumé.
He graduated first in his class in high school and earned a full scholarship to UCLA. As a student-athlete, Ashe won the NCAA’s singles title in 1965 and contributed to UCLA’s winning the NCAA tennis team championship. He was truly a pioneer in tennis, becoming the first Black man to win the U.S. Open, the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He would receive numerous awards — inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame, named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and having the stadium where the U.S. Open finals are played named in his honor.
