Bill Battle

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The University of Alabama National Alumni Association has announced that Bill Battle and Dr. Noah Langdale Jr. are the 2005 recipients of the Paul W. Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award.

The award recognizes two former athletes whose accomplishments since leaving the University are outstanding based on character, contributions to society, professional achievement and service.

The award will be presented to them during the Sept. 3 Alabama vs. Middle Tennessee football game in Tuscaloosa.

Battle played football under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and was a member of Bryant’s first national championship team in 1961. After leaving the University, Battle went on to coach at the University of Oklahoma and the U.S. Military Academy before joining the University of Tennessee where he led the volunteers to victory in the Sugar Bowl, Bluebonnet Bowl and two Liberty Bowls. After leaving Tennessee, Battle went on to help start a company called Golden Eagle Enterprises, which eventually became the Collegiate Licensing Company. The company is now the nation’s oldest and largest company dedicated to providing licensing services to the collegiate market, representing more than 200 colleges, universities, bowls and conferences.

Battle was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of fame in 1982 and was the first member inducted into the National Collegiate Licensing Association Hall of Fame in 2000. He was named one of Street & Smith’s 20 Most Influential People in College Athletics.

Dr. Noah Langdale Jr.

Langdale played varsity tackle for the Crimson Tide, but he has been recognized more for his off the field contributions, especially in education. During his years at the Capstone, Langdale was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Delta Chi and the Jasons Society.

After graduation, Langdale spent four years in the U.S. Navy. He received degrees from the Harvard University School of Law and Harvard Business School, and he practiced law in Georgia for seven years. He was a department chairman at Valdosta State College and an instructor for the American Institute before becoming the second president of Georgia State College in 1957 until his retirement in 1989. The college grew during his presidency, becoming Georgia State University.

Past recipients of the Bryant Alumni-Athlete Award include: John Croyle, Young Boozer, Charlie Boswell, Fred Sington, Hoyt “Wu” Winslett, Holt Rast, Tom Rast, Bart Starr, Bud Moore, Ozzie Newsome, Jerry Duncan, Dwight Stephenson, Lee Roy Jordan, Joe Kelley, Wendell Hudson, Dr. Andrew Burch, Jack McKewen, Harry Lee, I.L. “Pat” O’Sullivan Jr., Harry Gilmer, Don Salls, Jeremiah Castille and William E. Sexton.