PRINCETON, N.J. – Yale football senior defensive lineman Oso Ifesinachukwu was named one of the 15 finalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy, the National Football Foundation (NFF) announced Wednesday morning. The 15 finalists will each receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments®.
 
Celebrating its 33rd year, the Campbell Trophy is awarded annually to college football’s premier scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
 
Ifesinachukwu is the 18th Ivy to be named a finalist for the prestigious award. Most recently, Cornell defensive back Jelani Taylor was a finalist in 2019.
 
The Austin, Texas, native owns a 3.67 GPA in biomedical engineering and has been a force on the field for the Bulldogs this season. He is tied for the team lead in sacks with four and tackles for loss with five.
 
At Yale he has worked as a Design Aide for the Center For Engineering and Innovative Design where he helped members maintain safety regulations. In addition, he has been involved with the Global Teaching Project, traveling to Mississippi to tutor physics for bright and gifted underprivileged high school students and also serving as a summer camp counselor.
 
The finalists will travel to Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 64th NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 6, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports.
 
Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 33rd Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000. Click here for more information on the Awards Dinner, including options to purchase tickets online, special travel rates to the event from Delta Air Lines and Bellagio and a concierge service provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The trophy is named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, an All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team who found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.

As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell's strong leadership and unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley. Using the lessons of the gridiron he mentored Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others. His contributions have been captured in a book titled "The Trillion Dollar Coach," and during his lifetime, he affectionally became known as the "Coach of Silicon Valley."
 
Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell's contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization's highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football's premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® as an inspiration to future generations.