Ruth Riley ('01) will receive the 2015 Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award during the women's basketball game on Feb. 23 versus Louisville.

Ruth Riley To Receive 2015 Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award

Jan. 20, 2015

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame Monogram Club is pleased to announce that the 2015 Edward “Moose” Krause Distinguished Service Award will be presented to former women’s basketball star Ruth Riley (’01).

Riley will receive the organization’s highest honor during the Notre Dame vs. Louisville game on Monday, February 23 at Purcell Pavilion. The Monogram Club will also recognize her at a reception later this spring.

A 13-year veteran of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), Riley retired from the sport in June 2014 and currently serves as an NBA/WNBA Cares Ambassador.

After leading Notre Dame to its first women’s basketball national championship in 2001, Riley was selected by the Miami Sol with the fifth overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Her outstanding 13-year playing career included two WNBA titles with the Detroit Shock. In 2004, Riley earned an Olympic gold medal as a member of the United States women’s basketball team.

“We are thrilled to present Ruth with this award,” Monogram Club president Haley Scott DeMaria (’95, swimming) said. “It was inspiring to watch Ruth play on the court, and it has been even more inspiring to see her dedication to service off the basketball court. The Moose Krause Award is the highest honor the Monogram Club can bestow upon a member, and I can think of no better recipient than Ruth Riley.”

Monogram Club past president (2009-11) and Awards Committee chair Joe Restic (’79, football) echoed those sentiments.

“From collegiate and professional basketball championships to fighting malaria in Africa and hunger in the United States, Ruth has continued to use her time, talents and energy to try to bring solutions to global problems. As a result, she serves as a role model to us all and is the perfect recipient for this year’s Moose Krause Award,” Restic said.

Since its launch in 2006, Riley has been a spokesperson for the United Nations Foundation’s “Nothing But Nets” campaign. Her efforts with Nothing But Nets have included trips to Nigeria, Angola and Mali, and the organization’s partnership with the U.N. Foundation and NBA has raised more than $45 million for malaria prevention.
In addition, Riley continues to support efforts to eliminate AIDS worldwide. In 2006, she attended a Global AIDS Awareness event in Nairobi, Kenya as an NBA representative, and she is active with TRIAD (Training to Reduce the Incidence of AIDS-Related Death) Trust, an organization focused on education to help people lead HIV-free lives.

Riley has also represented the United States on a number of sports diplomacy endeavors, visiting the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Spain and Morocco, among others. The Department of State sponsors grassroots programs such as camps and clinics, aiming to use sports as a means of bridging socio-economic and linguistic differences around the world.

One of Riley’s most remarkable projects is Inspire Transformation, an organization she co-founded that is focused on creating community-based programs to support and sustain women and children and be a catalyst for positive social change. Inspire Transformation has two locations in South Africa, and seeks to use activities such as sport, music and counseling to educate and empower others.

This past November, Riley was honored as a 2014 Junior Chamber International Ten Outstanding Young Persons of The World recipient in the category of humanitarian and/or voluntary leadership. She is the first American to receive the global award since 2008.

She is also a member of the national council for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to eradicate childhood hunger in the United States.

While at Notre Dame, the Macy, Indiana native was a two-time first-team Associated Press All-America selection and two-time first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American. In 2012, Riley was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame. She will be the second women’s basketball alumna to receive the Moose Krause Award, following Carol Lally Shields (’79) in 2006.

Riley graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology in 2001 and is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration degree through Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business Executive MBA program.

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The Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor given by the Notre Dame Monogram Club. It is bestowed upon an active Club member who has achieved notoriety in the following areas:

  • Exemplary performance in local, state or national government
  • Outstanding dedication to the spirit and ideals of Notre Dame
  • Demonstrated responsibility to and concern for their respective communities
  • Extraordinary commitment and involvement with youth
The Monogram Club’s officers and board of directors select the annual recipient.

The award is named in honor of Notre Dame athletics legend Edward “Moose” Krause (1913-92), a three-sport monogram winner in the early 1930s who earned All-America honors in football and basketball while also competing in track and field. He later served as an assistant football coach and assistant and head basketball coach at Notre Dame before becoming one of the nation’s most respected athletic directors, serving in that role at his alma mater from 1949-82.

Monogram Club Moose Krause Distinguished Service Award Recipients
1979 – Ray Meyer ’38 (basketball)
1980 – Clarence “Jake” Kline ’21 (baseball)
1981 – Edward “Moose” Krause ’34 (football, basketball)
1982 – Harvey Foster ’39 (football)
1983 – Jim Mello ’48 (football)
1984 – Ziggy Czarobski ’48 (football)
1985 – Rev. John Smyth ’57 (basketball)
1986 – Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. ’39 (honorary member)
1986 – Rev. Edmund P. “Ned” Joyce, C.S.C. ’37 (honorary member)
1987 – Dan Harshman ’68 (football)
1988 – John Jordan ’69 (honorary member)
1989 – Leo Barnhorst ’49 (basketball)
1989 – Bill Hassett ’47 (basketball, baseball)
1990 – Dave Duerson ’83 (football)
1991 – Zeke O’Connor ’49 (football)
1992 – Joseph Signaigo ’48 (football)
1993 – Fritz Wilson ’28 (baseball)
1994 – Dr. Dennis Nigro ’69 (tennis)
1995 – Dick Rosenthal ’54 (basketball, baseball)
1996 – Chris Zorich ’91 (football)
1997 – George Kelly ’53 (honorary member)
1998 – Ara Parseghian (honorary member)
1999 – John Carney ’87 (football)
2000 – Mike Wadsworth ’66 (football)
2000 – Rev. William Beauchamp, C.S.C. ’75 (honorary member)
2001 – Rev. Jim Riehle, C.S.C. ’49 (honorary member)
2002 – Bill Hurd ’69 (track and field)
2003 – Pete Demmerle ’75 (football)
2004 – Jim Morse ’57 (football)
2005 – Rev. Edward A. “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C ’63, ’67 & ’69 (basketball)
2006 – Carol Lally Shields ’79 (basketball)
2007 – Jerome Bettis (football)
2008 – Lou Holtz (honorary member)
2009 – Mike DeCicco ’49 (fencing)
2010 – Dennis Stark ’47 (honorary member)
2011 – Chuck Lennon ’61, ’62 (baseball)
2012 – Joe Kernan ’68 (baseball)
2013 – Marty Allen ’58 (student manager)
2014 – Dr. Angelo Capozzi ’56 (baseball)
2015 – Ruth Riley ’01 (basketball)