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Irish Grad Hainline To Win ITA's Top Honor

Sept. 7, 2016

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame alumnus and former Fighting Irish men’s tennis student-athlete Brian Hainline, M.D. (’78) will receive the highest honor bestowed by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association when he is presented with the 2016 ITA David A Benjamin Achievement Award on Saturday, September 10, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame Board of Governors Meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.

A three-time Monogram winner, Hainline is the NCAA’s first Chief Medical Officer. He holds academic appointments as clinical professor of neurology at both New York University School of Medicine and Indiana University School of Medicine, and was formerly a practicing physician as Chief of Neurology and Integrative Pain Medicine at ProHEALTH Care Associates in Lake Success, New York. From 1992-97, he served as the Chief Medical officer for the U.S. Open Championships and, in 2008, was appointed Chief Medical Officer for the USTA.

Hainline was the No. 1 singles and doubles players as a senior in 1978 and graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in philosophy within the pre-professional studies program. He went on to study medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School and Medicine and completed his residency in neurology at the The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

“The selection of Brian Hainline as the 2016 recipient of the ITA David A Benjamin Achievement Award laureate speaks not only to Brian’s extraordinary career in the field of medicine, but also to the larger vision that the ITA serves college tennis and returns the leaders of tomorrow,” said ITA Chief Executive Officer Timothy Russell. “We are honored to recognize Brian for all of his efforts, and hope that his story is one that will inspire current and future generations.”

Now in its 23rd year, the ITA David A Benjamin Achievement Award pays tribute each year to past participants in the world of varsity tennis who have achieved excellence in their cho­sen careers. The spirit of the award honors both professional success and contributions to society, made either as a direct result of a career, or through humanitarian efforts. In 2015, Margie and Stan Smith endowed the ITA Achievement Award in honor of Benjamin.

As the NCAA’s first chief medical officer, Hainline oversees all student-athlete health and safety initiatives and coordinates with the NCAA’s main sports medicine panel, the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, and is assigned the task of running the NCAA Sport Science Institute — a national center of excellence that functions as a resource to provide safety, health and medical expertise and research for physicians, athletic trainers and all stakeholders in sport. Hainline sees his position as, “being devoted to doing everything possible to promote and develop the health, safety and well-being of all student-athletes.”

Hainline is a founding member of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program Review Board for the ATP, ITF AND WTA Tour. Additionally, he has been teaching religion for more than two decades and has served on several sports medicine appointments, including Pop Warner Football Medical Research Subcommittee, National Council on Youth Sports Safety and the WTA Player Development Advisory Panel.

In 2001, Hainline was award the Tennis Educational Merit Award by the International Tennis Hall of Fame, presented to those who have made notable contributions in the tennis education field at the natinoal level and have demonstrated leadership and creative skills in such areas as instruction, writing, organization and promotion of the game of tennis. In 2004, he received the Irving Glick Award of Excellence from the WTA Tour at the US Open Tennis Championships, recognizing sports medicine contributions by a tournament physician that are outstanding and exemplary. Hainline was inducted into the USTA Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame in 2011 and in 2013 was bestowed the ITF Award for Service to the Game.

Hainline is the second ITA David A Benjamin Achievement Award Laureate, joining Governor Pedro Rosello (’66), who won the award in 1999.

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