The Academy announced its prestigious Awards of Sport medallion series, which has annually paid tribute to the artist and the athlete for a quarter century, will grow by one with the debut of a cultural award featuring Zhenliang He (pictured left), China’s “Mr. Olympics.”

Zhenliang He has dedicated his life to the Olympic Movement and its principles. He is the honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and was advisor to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. The People’s Republic of China in 2002 presented him its crowning Lifetime Achievement Award, after Beijing won its bid to host this year’s Games.

The Academy announced that Cheshire Connecticut High School Swimming Coach Ed Aston has received the Academy’s Distinguished Service Award. Academy Trustee Tom Cafaro (left) presented Aston with the award on 13 March at the Cheshire High School winter sports assembly.

Aston last lost a dual meet in 1986, 21 years and a national-record 239 opponents ago. A former swimming captain at Southern Connecticut State, Aston started the town of Cheshires youth programs in 1970 and its high school team in 1973.

Of the 278 swimmers who have contributed to Aston’s streak, 60 went on to Division I programs, and more than 100 became captains of their college teams.

Easter weekend found Wyland, the Academy’s environmental artist, celebrating clean oceans while making artists out of children attending the White House Easter Egg Roll. The egg roll has been an Easter Monday tradition since 1878; this year’s theme was marine conservation.

Wyland helped youngsters among the 22,000 event ticketholders to paint their visions of sea life on a 20-foot canvas. The influential artist-activist works to reach children early with lessons showing how healthy oceans support the well-being of people worldwide. In 2007 the Academy recognized Wyland’s conservation efforts by presenting him with its Distinguished Service Award.

In China this August, Wyland will work with children of many nations to decorate a mile-long canvas marking the Olympic Games in Beijing. Like the mural just created at the White House, it will celebrate healthy oceans and clean water. Wyland has been named the official Olympic artist of the U.S. Olympic team traveling to Beijing. The U.S. Olympic Committee has never before endorsed an artist so strongly committed to nature and conservation.

The Academy announced that Trustee Emeritus Dr. Evie G. Dennis, a former special assistant to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s president, was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame 11 March in Denver.

Dr. Dennis, of Denver, became an Academy trustee in 1984, in the midst of a career dedicated to sport and K–12 education. She is now superintendent emerita of the Denver Public Schools, where her roles over the years also included teacher, counselor, administrator and community specialist.

Dr. Dennis has helped steer local, national and world track and field programs for three decades. A former vice president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, she also was chief of the U.S. delegations to the Pan-American Games in Cuba (1991) and the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea (1988). In addition, Dr. Dennis sits on the directorial board of the Athletics Congress.

Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) in Canandaigua, N.Y., has signed an Associate’s to Bachelor’s Articulation Agreement providing students the opportunity to complete an associate’s degree at FLCC and then enroll at the Academy with their course work transferred toward a bachelor’s degree.

Academy alumnus Jeremy Tiermini (left), assistant professor of physical education at FLCC, will coordinate the program for his institution. Tiermini, who is also FLCC’s athletic trainer, earned the M.S.S. degree from the Academy, graduating with highest honors in 2004.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition will host its fifth annual conference and expo on 8–10 June 2008 at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. To register, please visit www.sportsnutritionsociety.org

“Action is the foundational key to all success.”
— Pablo Picasso