Hon. Thomas Vanaskie inducted into Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame

Hon. Thomas I. Vanaskie '78, U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and adjunct professor at the Law School, will earn one of the highest honors in collegiate athletics when he is inducted into the Capital One Academic All-America Hall of Fame next month in Orlando, Fla. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, June 12, at the Marriot World Center during the College Sports Information Directors of America Annual Convention.

 

Vanaskie is a part of the 26^th induction class of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, where he will be honored along with Bruce Melnick, a NASA astronaut (Coast Guard), Pat Tillman, the late NFL star with the Arizona Cardinals (Arizona State), Elfi Schlegel, a NBC Sports gymnastics analyst (Florida) and Terry Schroeder, the U.S. Water Polo team coach at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic games (Pepperdine).

 

"I'm overwhelmed," Vanaskie said. "I received the call from Dick Enberg telling me I had been inducted. I never thought it would happen. It is an incredible honor. There is no more meaningful award for the impact that sports, coupled with academics, can have on a person. I can't separate out the impact that playing football at Lycoming and the education at Lycoming had on me. They both contribute equally."

 

A 1974 first team Academic All-America selection, Vanaskie was a two-time Middle Atlantic Conference defensive back and earned honorable mention Associated Press All-America College Division honors as a senior. Vanaskie, who graduated from Lycoming College in 1975, was inducted into the Shamokin Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and into Lycoming College Athletics Hall of Fame a year later.

 

After working as a private practice lawyer for 14 years in Scranton, Vanaskie served on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania before being appointed by President Barack Obama to his current position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He has received numerous awards during his tenure on the bench, including Honorary Master of the Bench of the Herbert B. Cohen Inn of Court in York, Pa., the Federal Bar Association Middle District of Pennsylvania Chapter’s President’s Award and a lifetime honorary member of the Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association.