April 5, 2006

As part of its 10th anniversary celebration the Big 12 Conference is spotlighting past recipients of the Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship Program. To be eligible for consideration a student-athlete must have possessed a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, participated in at least two years of intercollegiate athletics at the nominating institution, and plan to enroll in graduate school within 15 months of graduation.

This week the Big 12 salutes former Texas A&M student-athletes and Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship winners Mark Naftanel and Beth Weynand. After completing his collegiate diving career in 1999, Naftanel competed at the 2000 Olympic Trials. He graduated from A&M in 2001 before completing his studies at Duke Medical School. Naftanel currently is finishing his internship at the University of Michigan in Internal Medicine, and in June will start his Dermatology residency training in hopes of entering private practice as a pediatric dermatologist.

"The Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship was a particularly meaningful award for me," he said. "Representing Texas A&M and the Big 12 in the pool was a tremendous honor, and I learned a lot during my time as a student-athlete. The CHAMPS program and the A&M Student Athlete Advisory Committee provided me the opportunity to meet and work with Prentice Gautt, so it meant a great deal to receive the award in his honor. The financial assistance helped defray the huge costs of graduate school, and I am forever grateful for the assistance."

Beth Weynand, Texas A&M.

Weynand was named first-team Academic All-America and was A&M's Female Athlete of the Year in 2000-01 for her academic and on-court excellence with the Aggies' volleyball team. She is in the process of completing coursework toward her medical degree in the Houston area. Weynand concluded her collegiate career ranking as one of A&M's most decorated female scholar-athletes.

"Obviously, the Big 12 postgraduate scholarship helped get me through medical school from a financial standpoint," she said, "but it meant more than that. I was also very impressed with the way our Conference recognizes the importance of postgraduate education." Since 1997 the Dr. Prentice Gautt Scholarship program has funded nearly $700,000 to Big 12 student-athletes for their postgraduate studies.