National Football Foundation

One of two Campbell Trophy® winners to claim a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, Jim Hansen personified the NFF Scholar-Athlete program during his four years in Boulder and continues to add to his legacy today.
 
During Hansen’s time at Colorado, the Buffaloes tallied a record of 39-6-3. He played as an offensive lineman and participated in two Orange Bowls with national title implications, helping the Buffs to the 1990 crown.
 
A First-Team All-Big Eight offensive tackle on the field, Hansen compiled a 3.94 GPA in aerospace engineering before going on to earn a perfect 4.0 in his graduate course work in the field of fluid dynamics.
 
His academic exploits, coupled with his athletic prowess, made him a four-time First-Team Academic All-Big Eight and three-time First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America selection. CoSIDA named him its Academic All-American of the Year in 1992.
 
Hansen, who zipped through his Ph.D. in atmospheric, oceanic and planetary physics at Oxford, has done his part to better the earth’s climate and provide answers to some of the world’s most pressing environmental questions, assuming a worldwide leadership role in climatological research.
 
Hansen was previously an assistant professor of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for five years.
 
Now the lead scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory Probabilistic Prediction Research Office (NRL) in California, he also serves as Superintendent of the Marine Meteorology Division. Beyond time in his office or an adjacent lab, Hansen frequently can be found at the Pentagon or on the deck of a Naval warship, searching for ways that he and his team can improve technology to keep sailors informed and safe.

Hansen is currently a member of the Senior Executive Service, the equivalent of an admiral or general for civilian government employees.

Wanting to give back to the community and the game of football, Hansen also helped relaunch the NFF’s California Central Coast Chapter.