Lincoln - The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Friday that former Husker Dr. Pat Tyrance will be inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame at the association's annual workshop in San Antonio, Texas, on June 22. This is the second straight year NU has had an inductee, as Tyrance joins Karen Jennings (2008) and Dave Rimington (2004) as Nebraska's members of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
One of the highest honors presented to a former collegiate student-athlete, Tyrance enters the hall of fame as one of the most academically decorated athletes in Nebraska football history. He was an Academic All-America selection at linebacker in 1990 and also won the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete Award the same year. He graduated from Nebraska with a degree in biology (pre-med) while carrying a 3.46 grade-point average, and was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship. He was also the winner of the NCAA Top Six Award and the Toyota Leadership Award.
Tyrance and four other honorees will join the 103 previous CoSIDA Academic All-Americans who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame since the program began in 1988. The Hall of Fame recognizes the lifetime successes of former CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in their professional careers and philanthropic causes.
Tyrance is joined in the 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame class by Tom Clark (Mount Vernon Nazarene), Diane Dietz (Michigan), Julie Roe Lach (Millikin) and Karch Kiraly (UCLA).
“This is another outstanding Academic All-America Hall of Fame class,” said 2008-09 CoSIDA President Nick Joos. “These individuals excelled as student-athletes on their respective campuses and have continued to achieve at high levels in their chosen professions. They are truly the best of the best, and CoSIDA is proud to recognize the outstanding academic and athletic achievements of student-athletes around the nation.”
Tyrance was a three-year starter for the Huskers, and was an All-Big 8 Conference selection at linebacker as a junior and senior. One of the team co-captains in his senior season, he finished his career as the 12th-leading tackler in school history. A three-time Academic All-Big 8 honoree, he helped Nebraska compile a record of 30-7 during his final three seasons. In 1988, he played for the Huskers’ Big 8 championship team that compiled an 11-2 record and went on to play in the Orange Bowl. In 1989, he made 74 tackles as he helped Nebraska post a 10-2 mark and play in the Fiesta Bowl. As a senior, he led the team with 98 tackles as the Huskers earned a 9-3 record and played in the Florida Citrus Bowl.
Although he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, he continued his academic career at Harvard University where he earned two post-graduate degrees. In 1997, he earned his Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also graduated with his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard University Medical School.
From 1999 to 2002, he was a member of the core curriculum committee at Harvard Orthopedics and organized a two-year curriculum for orthopedic residents in diagnosis and management of spine pathology. In 2001, he spent a month in Pristhina, Kosovo, where he performed nine operations, including the first total hip arthroplasty in Kosovo, along with a team of three other surgeons. He was recognized as the outstanding resident teacher by Harvard Medical School students in 2001.
After serving his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Tyrance is currently one of the top orthopedic surgeons in the Omaha area. He also has served as team physician at Millard North High School since 2007.