NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2013 – Pennsylvania State University offensive guard John Urschel has been named the 24^th recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, at the 56^th National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner in New York City tonight.

"John Urschel is the epitome of what the Campbell Trophy is all about," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "He represents everything that is right about college football, and we are proud to have him as a member of this elite fraternity. Considering he is already teaching college classes, John has completely redefined what it means to be a student-athlete. We look forward to watching the future unfold for this incredible young man."

The Campbell Trophy is one of college football's most sought after and competitive awards, recognizing an individual as the absolute best in the country for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary community leadership. The award comes with a 24-inch, 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 postgraduate scholarship. A total of $300,000 was awarded to Urschel and the 15 other members of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments, who comprised the list of Campbell Trophy finalists. Each member of the class claimed an $18,000 scholarship for their post-graduate educations.

"John and his fellow members of the 2013 National Scholar-Athlete Class represent more than just the standout athletic ability you see on the field," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell winner) and Eli were NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "The depth of their commitment to academics and the community is incredible. They have worked tirelessly to achieve excellence in all aspects of their lives, and there is no doubt that they will be among this country’s next generation of great leaders."

Urschel is a three-time Academic All-District selection who garnered back-to-back First Team Academic All-America honors in 2012 and 2013. He earned a bachelor’s in mathematics in May 2012, a master’s in mathematics a year later, and he is currently working on a second master’s degree in math education – all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was named the 2012-13 Ernest B. McCoy Memorial Award winner as Penn State’s top male student-athlete and represented Penn State as the male recipient of the school’s 2013 Big Ten Medal of Honor. The Williamsville, N.Y., native is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.

Urschel has taught college-level courses like Integral Vector Calculus and Trigonometry and Analytic Geometry and has had several research papers published, including “Instabilities of the Sun-Jupiter-Asteroid Three Body Problem” in the journal Celestial Mechanics and Dynamic Astronomy and “A Space-Time Multigrid Method for the Numerical Valuation of Barrier Options” in the journal Communications in Mathematical Finance. He jointly ran a 2013 summer program in computational mathematics, supervising two undergraduates studying Schwartz-based Finite Element methods for graph Laplacian eigenvalue problems, and is a member of a genome re-assembly research group.

Urschel is a key component to one of the Big Ten’s most productive passing offenses, helping true freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors this season. A two-time First Team All-Big Ten guard, Urschel paved the way for three-straight 1,000-yard rushers and helped the Lions to winning seasons in all four years of his career. The team captain also blocked for 3,000-yard passer Matt McGloin, who broke 10 school passing and total offense records last season. He contributed as a mainstay on an offensive line that led the Big Ten in total offense and ranked second in scoring and passing yards in conference play in 2012. Urschel was also selected as Penn State’s Big Ten Sportsmanship recipient this season.

The keynote speaker at the 2013 Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon, Urschel addressed nearly two thousand attendees on the four qualities he wished for all college student-athletes: 1) master your craft in your sport; 2) make a mark in community; 3) help young players along their journey; and 4) prepare for the day your athletic career ends. An active participant in Penn State’s renowned Uplifting Athletes chapter, he has volunteered for the Penn State Dance Marathon, Relay for Life, Special Olympics, and Make-A-Wish events.

Urschel is Penn State’s first Campbell Trophy winner and the school’s 17^th NFF National Scholar-Athlete, following the likes of Stefen Wisniewski (2010), Paul Posluszny (2006), Aaron Collins (1997), Jeff Hartings (1995), and current Nittany Lion athletics director David Joyner (1971).

Launched in 1959, the NFF scholar-athlete program became the first initiative in history to award post graduate scholarships based on both a player’s academic and athletic accomplishments, and the program has awarded $10.4 million to 787 top athletes since its inception. Candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.

The centerpiece to the NFF's scholar-athlete program, the Campbell Trophy was first awarded in 1990. It is named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal.

The Past Recipients of the William V. Campbell Trophy

·                Chris Howard (Air Force, 1990 - College President)

·                Brad Culpepper (Florida, 1991 - Attorney)

·                Jim Hansen (Colorado, 1992 - Leader in Climatological Research)

·                Thomas Burns (Virginia, 1993 - Engineering Executive)

·                Robert Zatechka (Nebraska, 1994 - Physician)

·                Bobby Hoying (Ohio State, 1995 - Real Estate Executive)

·                Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1996 - Nonprofit Executive Director)

·                Peyton Manning (Tennessee, 1997 - NFL Player)

·                Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia, 1998 - Television Broadcaster & Insurance Executive)

·                Chad Pennington (Marshall, 1999 - Non-Profit President)

·                Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska, 2000 - Former NFL Player)

·                Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami, 2001 - Corporate Executive)

·                Brandon Roberts (Washington University in St. Louis [Mo.], 2002 - Physician)

·                Craig Krenzel (Ohio State, 2003 - Insurance Executive)

·                Michael Munoz (Tennessee, 2004 - Non-Profit CEO)

·                Rudy Niswanger (Louisiana State University, 2005 - Corporate Executive)

·                Brian Leonard (Rutgers University, 2006 - NFL Player)

·                Dallas Griffin (University of Texas, 2007 - Corporate Executive)

·                Alex Mack (University of California, 2008 - NFL Player)

·                Tim Tebow (University of Florida, 2009 - Non-Profit Chairman)

·                Sam Acho (University of Texas, 2010 - NFL Player)

·                Andrew Rodriguez (United States Military Academy, 2011 - Second Lt., United States Army)

·                Barrett Jones (University of Alabama, 2012 - NFL Player)

The 2013 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award Class, 
presented by Fidelity Investments

About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Award presented by Fidelity Investments, Play It Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the William V. Campbell Trophy endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF corporate partners include the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the BCS, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, Liberty Mutual Insurance, NCAA Football, and Under Armour. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.

About The National College Football Awards Association
The William V. Campbell Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 21 awards boast 678 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments is one of the world’s largest providers of financial services, with assets under administration of $4.5 trillion, including managed assets of $1.9 trillion, as of October 31, 2013.  Founded in 1946, the firm is a leading provider of investment management, retirement planning, portfolio guidance, brokerage, benefits outsourcing and many other financial products and services to more than 20 million individuals and institutions, as well as through 5,000 financial intermediary firms.  For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.

About HealthSouth
HealthSouth is the nation's largest owner and operator of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in terms of patients treated and discharged, revenues and number of hospitals. Operating in 28 states across the country and in Puerto Rico, HealthSouth serves patients through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation satellite clinics and home health agencies. HealthSouth's hospitals provide a higher level of rehabilitative care to patients who are recovering from conditions such as stroke and other neurological disorders, cardiac and pulmonary conditions, brain and spinal cord injuries, complex orthopedic conditions, and amputations. HealthSouth can be found on the Web at www.healthsouth.com.