Big Ten Announces Humanitarian and Leadership Awards
Wisconsin’s Pat Richter and Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins chosen to receive Big Ten Ford-Kinnick Leadership and Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Awards
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Wisconsin’s Pat Richter is this year’s recipient of the Big Ten’s Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award, while Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins is the Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award honoree, the conference announced Wednesday. These awards recognize Big Ten football students who have achieved success in the areas of leadership and humanitarianism following their academic and athletic careers at a Big Ten university.
As a student-athlete, Richter earned All-America (1961-62) and academic All-America (1962) honors as a tight end at Wisconsin. Richter led the Big Ten in receiving twice and topped the nation in receiving yardage as a junior. As a senior, Richter won the prestigious 1963 Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is given annually to the outstanding student-athlete on each conference campus. Richter also earned all-conference honors in baseball at UW as a power-hitting first baseman, but the 6-foot-5 center received his scholarship at Wisconsin for basketball.
Following his time at Wisconsin, Richter was a first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins and played professionally from 1963-71. He excelled as one of Sonny Jurgensen’s top pass receiving targets in Washington and also punted. Upon retirement from the NFL, he earned a law degree (1971) from UW-Madison. After working at a Madison law firm, he joined the Oscar Mayer Corporation, where he was Vice-President of personnel.
Richter returned to Wisconsin as the Director of Athletics in 1989 and is credited with totally transforming the school’s athletic program in his nearly 15-year tenure. During his administration, the Badgers eliminated the $2.1 million debt and built a $6 million surplus, won three national championships and 51 Big Ten team titles, built new facilities and renovated existing ones, and added three new women’s sports to become compliant with Title IX legislation.
Richter was recognized for his college gridiron successes in 1997 with his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame and was honored with an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award for post-college achievements in 1988. He is a member of the State of Wisconsin’s Athletic and Madison Sports Halls of Fame and the NFL Player Alumni Association. He was enshrined into the inaugural class of the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department Hall of Fame in 1991 and added a Rose Bowl Hall of Fame induction in 1994. In 1995, he gained induction into the GTE Academic All-America Hall of Fame. The Sales & Marketing Executives of Madison named Richter their “Executive of the Year” in 1997. Richter currently serves as an Advisor in the Education and Sports Practice at DHR Global in the firm’s Milwaukee, Wis., office.
As a four-year letterman at The Ohio State University, Jenkins started 45 career games and totaled 196 tackles, 18 passes defensed, three blocked punts and four forced fumbles in his career. An All-Big Ten selection in each of his final three years on campus, Jenkins left Ohio State with 11 interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.
As a team captain and a consensus All-America selection as a senior in 2008, Jenkins was honored with the Jim Thorpe Award after recording a career-high 57 tackles, three forced fumbles, three interceptions, two blocked punts and a sack. As a junior, he earned second-team AP All-America honors and was a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award after leading the secondary with 44 tackles and four interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
Originally selected by the New Orleans Saints with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Jenkins has been named to the Pro Bowl three times (2016, 2018, 2019), becoming just the fifth safety in team history to earn multiple Pro Bowl berths.
Jenkins has consistently been a pillar in the locker room and in the communities in which he has lived, worked, and played, including his home state of New Jersey, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In an effort to enhance the lives of youth in underserved communities, Jenkins launched The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation in 2010. The Foundation is dedicated to youth development programs and initiatives that provide innovative learning opportunities, resources, and experiences that will help them succeed in life and become productive and contributing members of their community.
In 2019 Malcolm Jenkins was the Philadelphia Eagles’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. That same year, Jenkins received both the McSilver Award as a Vanguard for Social Justice from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University and the Community Hero Award at the Community College of Philadelphia. The McSilver Award recognizes activists who are prominent in their fields and unafraid to use their platforms to help create a more equitable and just world. Jenkins received the Community Hero Award for his service in education and economic advancement in low-income communities, criminal justice reform, and police-community relations.
Jenkins won the 2017 Byron “Whizzer” White Award, “the highest honor the NFLPA can bestow on a player” for going above and beyond to perform community service. The Big Brothers Big Sisters of America recognized Malcolm and a teammate as the inaugural Defender of Potential Award Recipients. This award honors individuals who have shown extraordinary dedication to Big Brothers Big Sisters in defending the potential of children in our communities, through volunteerism, financial support and advocacy.
In September 2020, in light of Hunger Action Month, Jenkins and the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation launched “Get Ready Fest – Feeding the 504” in collaboration with the Winn-Dixie Gives Foundation, Second Harvest of South Louisiana, and the Broadmoor Improvement Association Food Pantry. The foundation started its initiative in New Orleans by hosting an event that provided more than 25,000 pounds of food to 557 families. The hunger relief partnership helped the New Orleans community by feeding families through the end of 2020 and bringing awareness to food insecurity. Support from the Malcolm Jenkins Foundation and Winn-Dixie allowed the Broadmoor Food Pantry to double the number of families it serves on a monthly basis in the 504 area code who are living in poverty-stricken conditions.
In May 2021, Jenkins and his foundation, along with partner College Track New Orleans, awarded 12 high school seniors $2,000 in scholarships for college. College Track has been in partnership with The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation for nine years and has since awarded more than $150,000 in scholarships to College Track students.
The Ford-Kinnick Leadership and Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Awards are part of the Big Ten’s annual awards program. The Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award is named for Michigan’s Gerald Ford and Iowa’s Nile Kinnick. The Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award is named for Minnesota’s Tony Dungy and Indiana’s Anthony Thompson. For more information on these awards, including biographical information on the namesakes, visit bigten.org.
Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award Recipients
2011: Archie Griffin, OSU
2012: Jon Runyan, MICH
2013: Gene Washington, MSU
2014: Mike Hopkins, ILL
2015: Brian Griese, MICH
2016: Reggie McKenzie, MICH
2017: Troy Vincent, WIS
2018: Antwaan Randle El, IND
2019: Doug Schlereth, IND
2020: Napoleon Harris, NU
2021: Pat Richter, WIS
Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award Recipients
2011: George Taliaferro, IND
2012: Chris Spielman, OSU
2013: Drew Brees, PUR
2014: Brian Griese, MICH
2015: John Shinsky, MSU
2016: Trent Green, IND
2017: Chad Greenway, IOWA
2018: Jake Wood, WIS
2019: J.J. Watt, WIS
2020: Vincent Smith, MICH
2021: Malcolm Jenkins, OSU
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