The Big Ten Conference announced the inaugural recipients of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award and 41 University of Wisconsin student-athletes were recognized for the 2008-09 season.

In February of 2008, Big Ten Faculty Representatives established a new conference academic recognition to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution. However, the new award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for their academic career.

The UW athletes that received the award cover a variety of sports. Included in the 41 Badger award winners are womens cross country and track athlete athid=5839&deptid=117"> --> Maggie Hippman and mens rower athid=5839&deptid=117"> --> Dan Stevens , who both achieved a 4.0 grade point average during the 2008-09 school year.

A complete list of the 41 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award winners from Wisconsin can be found in the PDF below.