365 student-athletes across Big 12 member institutions have been recognized with the 2026 Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Conference’s highest academic honor.

Arizona State led with 54 recipients in the awards’ 16^th cohort since its inception in 2011.

The award is in memory of Lage, who served as the Oklahoma State faculty athletics representative with the NCAA and the Big Eight/Big 12 Conference from 1983 until his death in 2007. He was the chairman on three occasions (1985-86, 93-94 and 2003-04). 

Lage had been a member of the Oklahoma State family since 1966, when he joined the College of Business Administration as an assistant professor. During his tenure at OSU, he served as the director of graduate studies in the department of economics (1974-77), head of the department of economics and finance (1978-84), director of the OSU Center for International Trade and Development (1985-87), and associate dean for research and graduate programs in the college of business administration (1997-2004).
 
In order to be eligible for the accolade, student-athletes must have lettered at least once in their career while maintaining residence at their institution for at least one academic year. The honoree, which can only be recognized once, should have 90 hours of earned credit with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.80 at the time of the nomination.