INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- Kyle Boden, the standout quarterback for the Emory & Henry College football team, has been selected to receive one of the top scholar-athlete awards from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Boden, who graduated from Emory & Henry this past Saturday, has been awarded the prestigious Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship. The award is given annually to one male and one female who are selected from among the more than 1,100 member institutions across all three NCAA divisions.

"It is an honor to represent Emory & Henry – a Division III school with 1,000 students – on a national stage with a number of qualified finalists," Boden said. "I have been accepted to medical school at East Tennessee State University and have applied to the University of Tennessee, so this scholarship will help with the cost of school and hopefully allow me to take advantage of medical mission work, which I have always wanted to do."

Named for the first executive director of the NCAA, the award provides $48,000 toward a master's degree at the recipient's college of choice. Boden is the only the second Old Dominion Athletic Conference student-athlete to be named a Byers Scholar and the first ODAC male. In 2007, Katie Kingsbury of the Washington and Lee University's women's tennis team earned the scholarship.

In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Boden was a two-time winner of the ODAC's Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, a two-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America Second-Teamer, and was named Academic All-District for three years. The Knoxville, Tenn., native was picked as the 2013-14 winner of the Porterfield Memorial Award, which recognizes an outstanding male senior who has distinguished himself in athletics and leadership while at E&H.

"In talking with colleagues about Kyle's potential nomination for the Walter Byers Scholarship, a common theme was his classroom leadership," said Professor Scott Ambrose, E&H's Faculty Athletic Representative. "What impressed me the most was the high praise that Kyle received even from instructors outside of his area of concentration.  He helped professors to foster a classroom environment with active discussion and participation from all students."

A biology major and chemistry minor, Boden was the College's first Rhodes Scholar finalist in 109 years. The Rhodes Scholarship is commonly considered the world's most prestigious postgraduate grant, as it provides 32 recipients annually with an opportunity to study at Oxford University in England.

"I hope to one day start my own non-profit organization and help address the orthopaedic need in developing nations," added Boden. "When I was interviewing for the Rhodes Scholarship, I learned that Oxford has a multi-tiered training program for orthopaedic medicine in West, Central and Southern Africa, so that spurred my goal to start my own non-profit."

To read the NCAA's official release about the 2014 Walter Byers Scholarship, please click HERE.

--- This release is courtesy of the Emory & Henry College sports information department. ---
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