STANFORD, Calif. - Brooke Forde has been named a national top-30 honoree for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year award, as announced on Thursday.
Forde was initially among a pool of 577 school nominees, a group that was then narrowed to 156 nominees at the conference level. Forde has now been selected as a top-30 honoree, which features 10 student-athletes from each of the three NCAA divisions.
Two months ago, Forde was announced as the Pac-12 Woman of the Year for the 2021-22 campaign, becoming Stanford's fourth winner of the award and joining Valarie Allman (track and field; 2018), Chiney Ogwumike (basketball; 2014), and Arianna Lambie (track & field/cross country; 2008) as previous recipients.
Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes female student-athletes who have completed their undergraduate studies and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership.
The Women of the Year selection committee will next select three honorees from each NCAA division, for a total of nine finalists. From those finalists, the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics will choose the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year. For the first time in the award's history, the NCAA Woman of the Year will be named and the Top 30 will be celebrated at the NCAA Convention, which will be held on Jan. 12, 2023, in San Antonio, Texas.
A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Forde completed a master's degree in epidemiology with a 4.2 grade-point average after receiving an undergraduate degree in human biology with a 3.96 GPA in 2021.
During her five seasons competing on The Farm, Forde helped the Cardinal to a pair of NCAA championships (2018, 2019) and four Pac-12 titles (2018-20, 2022). Forde claimed five NCAA individual or relay national titles - part of being a 19-time All-American - as well as six Pac-12 individual or relay titles.
Prior to her fifth and final season, Forde captured a silver medal in the 800 free relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Forde's academic honors are equally impressive, being named the 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America of the Year and a three-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America (2020, 2021, 2022). Additionally, Forde was the 2020-21 Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a five-time CSCAA Scholar All-American (2018-22), three-time Pac-12 Winter Academic Honor Roll recipient (2020, 2021, 2022) and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team All-Academic selection.
Forde's leadership and service activities include serving as co-president of the Stanford Student-Athlete Sustainability Committee and creating the Pac-12 Sustainability Committee, during which she spearheaded a Zero Waste initiative at a Stanford football game with recycling, e-waste and donation drives that were duplicated during basketball season. Forde also assisted in creating a sustainability in athletics course at Stanford that has been recognized by the United Nations.
Forde received Stanford University's 2022 James W. Lyons Award for Service, which highlights outstanding contributions in areas of extraordinary need that result in substantial change.
In 2022, Forde accepted a two-year assignment with the Peace Corps as a public health officer in rural Peru.