2025 Excellence Award Winners
5/15/2025 3:05:00 PM | General
The 2025 Excellence Awards celebrated our people and our successes from the 2024-25 athletic season. These awards recognized exemplary staff members in the below categories from across the Athletics Department, Business Advancement and SASSO.
INTEGRITY AWARD
The person, who through individual accountability, promotes and progresses the standards and values of Ohio State.
WINNERS
Tyler Eatman
Ashley Turner
EDUCATION AWARD
The person who demonstrates an appreciation and application for the lifelong learning through quality academic, competitive leadership and/or social experiences.
WINNERS
Kim Dally-Badgeley
Sasha Grubich
PEOPLE AWARD
The person who focuses on providing an excellent experience to all including student-athletes, students, staff and guests.
WINNERS
Sydney Badgeley
Seth Faulkner
RESPECT AWARD
The person who promotes collaboration and inclusiveness while treating all people with respect.
WINNERS
Adam Molyet
Katie Sherman
INNOVATION AWARD
The person who utilizes innovative ideas to create and deliver impact.
WINNERS
Chuck Altizer
Luke Nesselroad
COMMUNITY AWARD
The person who is committed to paying forward by supporting people and/or causes across campus or in the community.
FINALISTS
Diah Gassett (not pictured)
Brooke Shields
EXCELLENCE AWARD
The person who is committed to representing our values and consistently serves as an exemplar for their peers.
WINNERS
Julie Cross
Kate Nushart
EUGENE D. SMITH AWARD
The person who puts the Buckeye Student-Athlete Experience first and foremost, exceeding job duties as assigned.
WINNER
Kirsten von Zychlin
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD
The new hire who demonstrates university values, department values and extraordinary service in their field.
To qualify, this person was hired after May 10, 2024.
WINNERS
Harison Bhanoo
Jack Burroughs
HIGHER PURPOSE AWARD
The person who is committed to fulfilling the mission and vision of the Department of Athletics, Business Advancement and SASSO. This award was selected by the leadership committee.
WINNERS
Nathan Sims
Stephanie Etter
Joe Pipia
TEAM AWARD
The team/unit that went above and beyond throughout the past year to help the department, campus, or community.
WINNERS
Sports Science
Booking
Facility Trades
Eligibility Guidelines:
- Any staff member from the Athletics Department, Business Advancement or SASSO can nominate another staff member.
- To win an award, the staff member must be a full-time employee with one year service by the date of the event (except of the Rookie of the Year Award).
- To win an award, the employee's overall rating on their most recent performance evaluation must be “meets expectations” or above.
- A staff member cannot win the exact same award in a 5-year period
