STANFORD, Calif. – Six Stanford student-athletes have been awarded NCAA postgraduate scholarships for the spring season. In total, eight Cardinal have received NCAA postgraduate scholarships during 2014-15, tying for the most in a year in school history.
Matt Aiello (men’s volleyball), Ashley Grossman (women’s water polo), John Morrissey (men’s tennis), Luke Pappas (baseball), Robert Stineman (men’s tennis) and Ellen Tsay (women’s tennis) received NCAA postgraduate scholarships for their outstanding academic and athletic achievements. They are joined by Michael Levy (men’s gymnastics) and Kristina Vaculik (women’s gymnastics), who were awarded scholarships in the winter, as Stanford’s honorees for 2014-15.
NCAA postgraduate scholarship winners receive a one-time grant of $7,500.To qualify, the student-athletes must be in their final year of eligibility and plan to pursue graduate studies within the next three years. They must also maintain at least a 3.2 grade-point average, have performed with distinction as a member of their varsity team and be nominated by their institution's faculty athletics representative.
Aiello, a native of San Jose, graduated with a degree in English after four years on the men’s volleyball roster. The team reached the finals of the 2014 NCAA championship, where Aiello garnered the Elite 89 Award, given to the student-athlete at the championship site with the highest GPA. In the fall of 2013, he attended Oxford University and did a tutorial in Anglo-Saxon and medieval literature. He was also named a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
Aiello will continue his education by pursuing a master’s in Medieval English in Worcester College at Oxford. After Oxford, he is hoping to work for Sotheby's or Christie's auction house in their Rare Books and Manuscript Department.
Grossman, a science, technology and society major, was a member of three national championship teams while playing for the Cardinal. The Santa Monica, California, native was the co-recipient of the Pam Strathairn Award at the Stanford Athletic Board Awards, given to the senior female student-athlete with the best competitive attitude. She also has international experience, competing for the U.S. Junior and Senior National Teams.
Since graduation, Grossman has been training with Team USA with her eye on Rio in 2016. Following her water polo career, she would like to attend the Summer Institute for General Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Morrissey, who hails from Dublin, Ireland, was a standout on the men’s tennis team, which won a share of the Pac-12 title in 2015 for the first time since 2010. An international relations major while at Stanford, Morrissey was an ITA All-American in doubles and a three-time All-Pac-12 Second Team pick. Morrissey was an ITA Scholar-Athlete and a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
Morrissey has since enrolled in a post baccalaureate pre-medical program at Virginia. He will take the MCAT in May 2016, and then pursue medical research and clinical volunteering. Morrissey hopes to begin medical school in fall 2017.
Pappas was a double-major at Stanford with a 4.048 GPA, the highest of all graduating senior student-athletes, earning degrees in computer science and management science and engineering. A Rhodes Scholar finalist as a senior, the San Anselmo, California, native started several early-stage technology ventures, including a queue management system for service-oriented organizations and academic institutions, and a digital platform aimed at facilitating collegiate athletic recruiting. He also conducted research regarding the European Sovereign Debt Crisis under the direction of Stanford University Professor and Hoover Institute Senior Fellow Russell Berman.
A member of the Stanford baseball team for four seasons, Pappas will be working for Morgan Stanley as an analyst in the Technology Investment Banking office in Menlo Park. Academically, he hopes to pursue a master’s in business administration as well as public policy in the coming years.
Stineman, Morrissey’s doubles partner on the men’s tennis team, graduated from Stanford with a degree in chemistry. An ITA All-American in doubles, the Winnetka, Illinois, native, was also an ITA Scholar-Athlete and a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team selection. Stineman was the co-winner of the Dick and Anne Gould Captain’s Award and the Arthur F. Dauer Memorial Sports Performance Award at the 2015 Stanford Athletic Board Awards. He will begin working at Bain & Company, a consulting firm, in Chicago this September.
Tsay, a native of Pleasanton, California, graduated from Stanford with a degree in biology. An ITA All-American in doubles, Tsay helped the Cardinal reach at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships in each of her four seasons, including an NCAA title in 2013. An ITA Scholar-Athlete, she is also a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree.
Tsay will be completing a master’s in biomedical informatics at the Stanford School of Medicine, and is currently applying to medical school with a plan on matriculating in the fall of 2016.