BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins Director of Athletics and Recreation Alanna Shanahan announced today that Ralph O'Connor, A&S '51, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the department's Distinguished Service Award. He will be honored at the University's 2018 Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 7.

The Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame Committee determined in 2016 that an award for Distinguished Service to the Department of Athletics & Recreation should be presented to an appropriate candidate at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The award does not need to be presented at each induction and its presentation is at the discretion of the committee.

Criteria for the award are as follows:
- Outstanding contributions and/or service to the Department of Athletics & Recreation.
- Contributions/service should be documented over a length of time not less than 10 years.

O'Connor is a trustee emeritus and has been a long-time supporter of the Department of Athletics and Recreation at Johns Hopkins. He provided the lead gift for the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center, which opened on the Homewood campus in 2002. The 63,000-square-foot facility includes a weight room, fitness room, a 30-foot climbing wall, racquetball/squash courts and an 18,000-square-foot gymnasium that is used for basketball, volleyball and badminton.

There were more than 285,000 visits to the recreation center during the 2016-17 academic year, and nearly 2,000 students competed on more than 225 intramural teams in eight different sports. In addition, more than 30 group fitness classes are offered each week and 38 club teams with more than 500 participants represent Johns Hopkins annually.

The recreation center also hosts campus-wide programming, including Freshman Convocation, the Johns Hopkins Career Fair, the Student Activities Fair and the President's Senior Toast the night before commencement. The recreation center is the largest indoor gathering space at Homewood and one of the most frequently visited facilities on campus.

In addition to providing the lead gift for the recreation center, O'Connor has also provided support for a number of other athletic facilities in recent years, including the Cordish Lacrosse Center, Babb Field at Stromberg Stadium, the Blue Jay tennis courts and Homewood Field, all of which have either been constructed or renovated since 2012. His generosity extends beyond athletics, and he has made gifts to establish scholarships and professorships, provided a fund for student entrepreneurs and given art for the Homewood campus.

O'Connor is an avid Blue Jay athletics fan and has taken great pride in the success of the program in recent years. Johns Hopkins sent 15 of its 24 teams to NCAA Championship competition and produced 48 All-Americans and eight Academic All-Americans in 2016-17. Every one of those teams and athletes - and the thousands who utilize the recreation center every year - benefit from the vision and support of Ralph O'Connor.

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