WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Swimmer Blake Ratliff and runner Emma Tate – multi-year Academic All-Big Ten honorees that earned their degrees last month – have been selected as Purdue Athletics' recipients of the annual Big Ten postgraduate scholarships for the 2022-23 school year.
The Indiana natives will each receive a $7,500 scholarship for their continuing education. Ratliff came to Purdue from the city of Fishers and Tate is a West Lafayette native.
Tate graduated with a 3.85 grade-point average as a plant science major. She lettered for both cross country and track & field as a Boilermaker, representing the cross country team at the 2021 NCAA Championships. She's also a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honoree.
Ratliff graduated with a 3.77 GPA as a biology major, also earning a certificate in entrepreneurship & innovation. As a leader for Purdue men's swimming & diving, he was selected as a team captain and the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree this season. He also represented the program on the Academic All-District Team as a senior.
Both Boilermakers are in line to become Big Ten Distinguished Scholars later this summer when the conference announces those honorees. It will be the third such honor for Tate.
Tate has accepted a PhD position within the Land Resource and Environmental Science Department at Montana State University. She received a fellowship through the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and will be studying extreme biofilms at Yellowstone National Park. She also has plans to research how denitrifying bacteria contribute to water quality and greenhouse gas production in riparian ecosystems common to Montana.
Ratliff is continuing his education at the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, beginning a Doctor of Dental Surgery program in July. At Purdue, he served as a research assistant in Purdue's Comparative Pathobiology Department, studying pancreas inflammation. He also served as a student representative on the director's advancement board for the Purdue Center for Cancer Research.
Since the Big Ten introduced the two postgraduate scholarships awarded to every institution at the end of the 2012-13 school year, Tate is the second runner from cross country and track & field to be selected as a recipient. Ratliff is the ninth swimmer (fifth male) on the list, a department-high total.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 GPA, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their bachelor's degree at a graduate degree program.
The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books.
Around the Big Ten, 11 different sports were represented on the list of the league's postgraduate scholarship recipients.
BIG TEN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
2023 – Blake Ratliff (Swimming), Emma Tate (Cross Country and Track & Field)
2022 – Jackson Smeltz (Baseball), Emma Terwilliger (Volleyball)
2021 – Léony Boudreau (Basketball), Gabi Gomez Treig (Swimming)
2020 – Susan Hubbard (Cross Country and Track & Field), Dylan Lydy (Wrestling)
2019 – Alex Clarke (Swimming), Ben Thornton (Wrestling)
2018 – Hanna House (Swimming), Chris Bals (Swimming)
2017 – Christa Szalach (Soccer), Jon McKeeman (Basketball)
2016 – Hayden Hamby (Basketball), Andrew Hoselton (Wrestling)
2015 – Carly Marshall (Swimming), Manuel Gutierrez (Swimming)
2014 – Cody Davis (Football), Kyle Mosier (Wrestling)
2013 – Lauren Gustafson (Swimming), Alec LaMothe (Swimming)
The Indiana natives will each receive a $7,500 scholarship for their continuing education. Ratliff came to Purdue from the city of Fishers and Tate is a West Lafayette native.
Tate graduated with a 3.85 grade-point average as a plant science major. She lettered for both cross country and track & field as a Boilermaker, representing the cross country team at the 2021 NCAA Championships. She's also a two-time USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honoree.
Ratliff graduated with a 3.77 GPA as a biology major, also earning a certificate in entrepreneurship & innovation. As a leader for Purdue men's swimming & diving, he was selected as a team captain and the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree this season. He also represented the program on the Academic All-District Team as a senior.
Both Boilermakers are in line to become Big Ten Distinguished Scholars later this summer when the conference announces those honorees. It will be the third such honor for Tate.
Tate has accepted a PhD position within the Land Resource and Environmental Science Department at Montana State University. She received a fellowship through the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and will be studying extreme biofilms at Yellowstone National Park. She also has plans to research how denitrifying bacteria contribute to water quality and greenhouse gas production in riparian ecosystems common to Montana.
Ratliff is continuing his education at the Indiana University School of Dentistry in Indianapolis, beginning a Doctor of Dental Surgery program in July. At Purdue, he served as a research assistant in Purdue's Comparative Pathobiology Department, studying pancreas inflammation. He also served as a student representative on the director's advancement board for the Purdue Center for Cancer Research.
Since the Big Ten introduced the two postgraduate scholarships awarded to every institution at the end of the 2012-13 school year, Tate is the second runner from cross country and track & field to be selected as a recipient. Ratliff is the ninth swimmer (fifth male) on the list, a department-high total.
Each Big Ten institution developed its own on-campus selection process when awarding the scholarship. Student-athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 GPA, demonstrated leadership qualities, served as an excellent role model and intended to continue their academic work beyond their bachelor's degree at a graduate degree program.
The scholarship will be used to pay expenses of the student's postgraduate education to include such related activities as research and teaching, as well as other expenses such as tuition, fees, room and board, required course-related supplies and books.
Around the Big Ten, 11 different sports were represented on the list of the league's postgraduate scholarship recipients.
BIG TEN POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
2023 – Blake Ratliff (Swimming), Emma Tate (Cross Country and Track & Field)
2022 – Jackson Smeltz (Baseball), Emma Terwilliger (Volleyball)
2021 – Léony Boudreau (Basketball), Gabi Gomez Treig (Swimming)
2020 – Susan Hubbard (Cross Country and Track & Field), Dylan Lydy (Wrestling)
2019 – Alex Clarke (Swimming), Ben Thornton (Wrestling)
2018 – Hanna House (Swimming), Chris Bals (Swimming)
2017 – Christa Szalach (Soccer), Jon McKeeman (Basketball)
2016 – Hayden Hamby (Basketball), Andrew Hoselton (Wrestling)
2015 – Carly Marshall (Swimming), Manuel Gutierrez (Swimming)
2014 – Cody Davis (Football), Kyle Mosier (Wrestling)
2013 – Lauren Gustafson (Swimming), Alec LaMothe (Swimming)