President’s Message

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 88th Annual Heisman Memorial Trophy Dinner Gala. Thank you for joining us as we celebrate this year’s Heisman Trophy winner and recognize the fraternity of Heisman winners, some of whom are here celebrating 10, 25 and 50 year anniversaries. The Gala is also an opportunity to applaud our 2022 Heisman Humanitarian winner, Coach Mike Krzyzewski. 2022 was a busy year for the Heisman Trophy Trust. In January we proudly announced the election of two distinguished African Americans to our board, Dan Reed and Marva Smalls, both of whom bring decades of outstanding leadership and expertise in sports, media, diversity, equity and inclusion. Dan and Marva have proven to be excellent additions to our board of Heisman Trustees which also include: William Dockery, James Corcoran, Anne Donahue, N. Richard Kalikow, Vasili Krishnamurti, Brian Obergfell, Carol Pisano, and Sanford Wurmfeld.

Our dedicated trustees, along with our Executive Director, Rob Whalen, and our Associate Director, Tim Henning, work tirelessly throughout the year to further the Trust’s mission. Our work is focused on harnessing the power of the Heisman Trophy and the legacy of athletic excellence it represents to uplift and inspire young people. We do that by funding youth development programs in underserved communities that teach teamwork, sportsmanship, and excellence in academics. We also recognize community-minded scholarathletes with the Heisman high school scholarship program which provides funding for college. Finally, we recognize outstanding individuals in the sports world who further our vision with the Heisman Humanitarian Award.

We are pleased that once again this year, the Heisman Trust was able to donate more than $2.5 million dollars to youth development programs in furtherance of our mission. To date, the Trust has donated more than $22 million to hundreds of youth development programs around the country. In the coming months, we will be launching a marketing campaign, Beyond the Trophy, to highlight the positive impact the Heisman Trust has on young people in underserved communities. You may have noticed our first televised commercial for this campaign during last night’s Heisman Trophy ceremony. The charitable work we do would not be possible without the generous support of our partners: Nissan, ESPN, Campus, Jostens, and Deloitte. We thank them for their continued partnerships. On behalf of the Heisman Trophy Trust, I extend our very best wishes for a happy holiday season and good health in the New Year. Enjoy tonight’s dinner program.

Sincerely,