EUGENE–Tom Jernstedt, senior vice president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and Edward Colligan, founder and senior vice president of Handspring, Inc., a manufacturer of handheld computer products, will receive the University of Oregon Alumni Association’s highest awards in 2001.

Jernstedt will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award and Colligan will be honored as the Outstanding Young Alumnus during UO spring commencement exercises June 16. The awards honor outstanding individuals who have attained extraordinary distinction in their chosen professional fields or by personal endeavors.

"Tom and Ed are among the leaders in their professions, and we’re pleased to honor them," says Dan Rodriguez, UO associate vice president for alumni affairs. "Both make the University of Oregon proud through their tremendous career accomplishments."

Jernstedt, a native of Carlton, Ore., majored in political science and earned a master’s degree in education from the UO. He played football under former coach Len Casanova and was senior class president. After a brief sales career in California, Casanova lured Jernstedt back to college athletics by offering him a job in Oregon’s athletic department. For three years, beginning in 1969, Jernstedt worked as an administrative assistant, athletic business manager and director of events.

He left the UO to become director of events for the NCAA in 1972 and immediately began overseeing the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Almost 30 years later, Jernstedt is now a NCAA senior vice president. His duties still include oversight of the men’s basketball tournament that has grown to rival the Super Bowl as America’s most watched sporting event. His previous NCAA posts include deputy executive director and chief operating officer.

Jernstedt is president of USA Basketball and serves on the boards of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Collegiate Sports Council. In 1999, Sporting News named Jernstedt one of the 100 most powerful people in American sports.

The other honoree, Colligan, also studied political science at the UO. He now lives in San Jose, Calif., where he is a founder and senior vice president of sales and marketing for Handspring. Before forming Handspring, Colligan was vice president of marketing for Palm Computing and vice president of strategic and product marketing at Radius Corp., which is a leader in Macintosh graphics, graphic imaging and hardware development.

Colligan’s multiple successes have earned him several marketing industry accolades. Marketing Computers Magazine named him the 1997 Marketer of the Year, and Advertising Age named him one of the Top 100 Marketers of 1997.

For more information about the awards and current or past award recipients, call the UO Alumni Association at (541) 346-5656.

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