IRVING, Texas – American Athletic Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti has announced that Rice cross country standout Travis Dowd and UAB softball player Olivia Valbak have been chosen as the winners of the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Awards by the conference’s faculty athletics representatives. 
 
The awards are given annually to one male and one female student-athlete from an American Athletic Conference-sponsored sport who have been admitted to a degree-granting or professional program for the following year and who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, athletic performance and depth of commitment to service within the institution or the community. 
 
Dowd and Valbak will each receive a $5,000 scholarship, which may be applied to postgraduate study. 
 
“It is an honor to present the American Athletic Conference Postgraduate Leadership Awards to Travis Dowd and Olivia Valbak,” said Pernetti. “Travis and Olivia embody the true mission and the very best of intercollegiate athletics. Their commitment to medical research and competing in the classroom while doing so at the highest level of Division I athletics is remarkable and inspirational to student-athletes everywhere.”
 
Dowd becomes the first Rice student-athlete to earn a Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award. A native of Austin, Texas, and a two-year captain in cross country, Dowd finished 35th in the individual standings at the 2023 American Athletic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship and went on to score in the 10,000-meter run at The American’s Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
 
Dowd earned an undergraduate degree in bioengineering from Rice in 2023 and earned a master’s degree in global medical innovation in 2024. Dowd plans to pursue master of public health and doctor of medicine degrees at UT Southwestern Medical School and the O’Donnell School of Public Health. He is the recipient of the R Association Scholarship and the Clanton-Winston Medical School scholarship, given by Rice Athletics, and has participated in a number of community service efforts.
 
Valbak is the first UAB student-athlete to earn a Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award. She was a shortstop and pitcher who hit .243 with five doubles and 15 runs batted in while registering five pitching wins with a 4.18 ERA in 2024. Valbak started all 52 games for the Blazers in 2024 and made 197 starts in her career.
 
A native of Ashburn, Virginia, Valbak graduated from UAB’s undergraduate program in cancer biology with a 3.97 grade-point average, was named to UAB’s President’s List, in recognition of a 4.00 semester GPA, in seven semesters. She was the only undergraduate student to present research at the National Cancer Institute’s U01 conference in Oregon in 2023, and she additionally presented findings at UAB’s O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2024. She plans to pursue a degree in medicine.
 

Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award
The Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award is presented annually to two student-athletes (one male, one female) who have demonstrated leadership through excellence in academic credentials, outstanding athletic performance and depth of commitment in service within the institution and/or in the community.
 

2013-14	Zach Willis, Baseball, Memphis
	Jackie Wattles, Volleyball, UConn
2014-15	Keenan Joyner, Track and Field, Memphis
	Julie Kernen, Softball, Tulsa
2015-16	Julien Dodu, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
	Hannah Emnett, Rowing, Tulsa
2016-17	Kirk Smith, Cross Country/Track and Field, Tulsa
	Juliana Madzia, Cross Country/Track and Field, Cincinnati
2017-18	Chandler Klemm, Soccer, Memphis
	Vendela Norman, Swimming & Diving, East Carolina
2018-19	Austin Allen, Tennis, East Carolina
	Enna Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
2019-20	Din Selmanovic, Swimming & Diving, Cincinnati
	Stasia Mallin, Soccer, Memphis
2020-21	Alec Trela, Baseball, Memphis
	Jeni Griffin, Swimming & Diving, Tulane
2021-22	Chonnor Ludolph, Track and Field, Wichita State
	Michelle Joyce, Cross Country/Track and Field, Temple
2022-23	Johann Jeremiah, Track and Field, South Florida
	Sophia LoCicero, Lacrosse, East Carolina
2023-24	Travis Dowd, Cross Country, Rice
	Olivia Valbak, Softball, UAB