Recent Emory University graduates Zahra Dawson and Ryan Dagerman capped off their Eagle careers with one of the NCAA's top honors, as each has received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for their academic and athletic success during their time with the program.

Each will receive a one-time $7,500 scholarship, to be used for postgraduate study within three years.

Dawson, a women's tennis player originally from Fort Washington, MD (The Maret School) ended her Emory career as the program's all-time leader in doubles victories with 105, and second in school history with 86 singles victories.  The four-time all-American recently recorded her second-career runner-up finish in the doubles draw at the NCAA Division III Championships, and helped the Eagles to a third-place finish in the team championships. 

Dawson was named to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team in 2012, after earning a second team honor in 2011.  With a 3.81 grade point average as an Applied Mathematics major she will be attending medical school at the University of Michigan in the Fall.

Dawson becomes the fourth Emory women's tennis player to garner the scholarship, joining former Eagles Megan Bern (1997), Margaret Moscato (2004), and Carina Alberelli (2005).

Dagerman, a member of the golf team from Dallas, TX (Plano West) helped the Eagles to the program's 10^th-consecutive appearance to the NCAA D-III Championships as well as their second straight University Athletic Association Championship.  Dagerman captured First Team All-America honors after tying for seventh place at the national tournament, with his 72-hole score of 294 tying the school's second-best individual mark at the NCAA Championships. Dagerman's performance at the national tourney represented his third consecutive All-America effort, making him just one of two players in school history to earn that distinction.  In addition, he closed out his four-year stint with the program in the No. 1 spot in career scoring average with a 74.38 strokes-per-round showing.

Academically, Dagerman, a 2012 Academic All-America Second Team selection, posted a 3.76 grade point average as a Finance and Accounting major.  A three-time UAA academic honoree, earlier in the spring he was named to the Capital One Academic All-District First Team.

Dagerman is just the second member of the Emory golf team to win an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, joining Allan Phillips, who claimed the honor in 2001.

Emory has now been awarded 76 postgraduate scholarships over the school's history, and its 59 since 2000 are more than any other NCAA institution except Stanford University.  Dawson and Dagerman are the fifth and sixth Emory winners this year, the most the program has had since 2006-07.

This season's NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients (29 men and 29 women) represent spring sports participants from all NCAA divisions, who will receive one-time, nonrenewable grants of $7,500.

The scholarships are awarded to student-athletes who excel academically and athletically and who are in their final year of intercollegiate athletics competition. The Association awards up to 174 postgraduate scholarships annually, 87 for men and 87 for women.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes through their participation in NCAA championship and/or emerging sports. For more information about the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, go to the Diversity and Inclusion link under the 'About the NCAA' tab at www.ncaa.org.