Big Ten Announces Humanitarian and Leadership Awards
Illinois’ Ron Guenther and Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld chosen to receive Big Ten Ford-Kinnick Leadership and Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Awards
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Illinois’
Ron Guenther is this year’s recipient of the Big Ten’s Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award, while Indiana’s
Nate Sudfeld is the Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award honoree, the conference announced Monday. 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.
Guenther played football for the Illini from 1964-66 as an offensive lineman, earning team MVP, second-team All-Big Ten and Academic All-Big Ten honors in 1966. Following his playing career, Guenther served as the offensive line coach at Boston College from 1971-74 and head football coach at North Central College from 1975-78, where he compiled a record of 22-12-2.
Guenther was interim Athletics Director at Illinois in 1988, then named permanent Athletic Director from 1992 to 2011, when he retired from the University. He continued to work with the Big Ten Conference as a consultant after his career. Major projects under his watch included the Memorial Stadium renaissance, Eichelberger Field for softball, the Bielfeldt Athletics Administration Building, the Demirjian Golf Facility, the Kahn Outdoor Tennis Complex, the Atkins Tennis Center, the UI Outdoor Track and Field Stadium, the Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility, the Irwin Academic Center and the Ubben Basketball Practice Facility.
During his tenure, Illinois captured 34 Big Ten Championships, reached a men’s basketball Final Four and made six football bowl appearances, including the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl. Guenther was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and the University of Illinois Hall of Fame in 2022.
As a four-year letterman at Indiana, Sudfeld was 593-of-983 (60.3 percent) with 7,879 passing yards, 8,011 total yards, 61 passing touchdowns, 20 interceptions, eight rushing scores and a 144.1 passing efficiency mark, which ranks ninth in Big Ten history. As one of the most decorated quarterbacks in Indiana history, Sudfeld still holds the Hoosier records for passing touchdowns (61), passing yardage (7,879), 350-yard games (6), 300-yard games (11), 250-yard games (13), 200-yard games (19), four-touchdown games (5) and three-touchdown games (10), while sharing the top spot for 400-yard games (1) in his 37 games (26 starts).
Sudfeld was originally drafted by the Washington Commanders in the sixth round as the 187th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and has since spent seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles (2017-20), the San Francisco 49ers (2021). On August 31, 2022, Sudfeld was signed by the Detroit Lions.
Sudfeld spends his time off the field working with several charities, including AIDS Orphans Education Trust Health Centre (AOET), New Dawn Africa Foundation, Assist International and the Sewing Hope Foundation.
Located in Jinja, Uganda, AIDS Orphans Education Trust Health Centre (AOET) provides education, health, and child welfare programs that impact over 4,000 children every day. Alongside Assist International, Sudfeld has partnered with The AOET Children's Village to support Ugandan orphans and their foster families. Alongside his brothers, Zach Sudfeld and Matt Sudfeld, Nate has also facilitated sports camps for orphan children, hosting programs for football, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. In 2018 and 2019, Nate was the sponsor for a sports camp for hundreds of children at AOET and for children from other schools in the Jinja area.
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many foster families from meeting their daily food needs. Sudfeld generously provided immediate assistance by distributing a supply of emergency food and hygiene items to the families and children across AOET's programs.
New Dawn Africa Foundation in Entebbe, Uganda, addresses the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in their region, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS and families with children who have HIV. Since 2019, Sudfeld has supported New Dawn as it implements a wide range of programs. These include a nutrition plan for mothers and infants, a counseling program for people living with HIV/AIDS, and educational and farming initiatives. To help offset the impact of the pandemic, Sudfeld generously contributed towards catalyzing New Dawn's farming initiatives and empowering team members to deliver critical HIV medication to families unable to access their medication in lockdown, as well as supply emergency food for families in the community.
In 2021, Assist International joined Navajo Nation leadership, Chapter officials, and a team of partner organizations to catalyze health initiatives that improve access to nutritious food and water for Navajo families. Sudfeld has championed these efforts by supporting Assist International's Alliance for Navajo Sustainability program, working to improve agriculture, WASH (water, sanitation & hygiene), and sustainable business enterprises for Navajo communities.
The Sewing Hope Children's Village in Atiak, Uganda, provides homes for orphan children and young women who were abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) or facing hardship and poverty. Sudfeld has supported Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe's vision to provide housing, education, and care for orphaned children, young women, and refugees in Northern Uganda. Over the past two years, Nate sponsored Sewing Hope's emergency food distribution and farming initiatives to combat severe effects of hunger and malnutrition facing their region, due to the effects of locust plagues and recent lockdowns. Sudfeld went on his first trip to help Sister Rosemary and her work in Atiak in 2015 while on Spring Break at IU during the building of the first orphan home; he came back to volunteer at the Sewing Hope Children’s Home in Atiak in 2018 and 2019 and has been supporting the efforts to combat food scarcity in 2020 and 2021.
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
2022: Ron Guenther, ILL
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
2022: Nate Sudfeld, IND
illinois.rivals.com
