Outstanding Alumna Award - 2022

The Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation introduced the Outstanding Alumna Award at the 1982 Convention in Atlanta to recognize ZTA alumnae who have become outstanding leaders in their chosen professions, demonstrated significant accomplishments and made notable contributions to society. Many of the past recipients have also served the Fraternity in their post-collegiate years, but that is not a requirement for the award. These outstanding women serve as role models for all members of Zeta Tau Alpha and their informative and inspiring speeches are highlights of our biennial Convention. You can view all Outstanding Alumna recipients here.

2022 Winners

Laura McKeeman Rutledge
Gamma Iota Chapter
University of Florida

The Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation has named ESPN anchor and host Laura McKeeman Rutledge as the 2022 ZTA Outstanding Alumna for her excellence in sports broadcasting. Laura has hosted “SEC Nation,” SEC Network’s live college football pre-game show, since 2017 and “NFL Live,” ESPN’s year-round weekday professional football news and information show, since 2020. She will receive the award on July 16, during Convention 2022 in Grapevine, Texas.

Laura was initiated into ZTA at Gamma Iota Chapter at University of Florida in 2007. She served as Judicial Chair of her chapter and was a member of the Florida Cicerones ambassador tour team. She earned her broadcast journalism degree and received the 2011 Red Barber Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. She also wore the crown as Miss Florida 2012 in the 2013 Miss America pageant.

In her rapid rise in sports broadcasting, Laura advanced from local sideline reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres to an in-the-spotlight ESPN host in just five years. Prior to joining ESPN, she was a sports anchor for CNN’s “New Day” and “Early Start” and worked on HLN’s “Morning Express with Robin Meade.”

Her earlier roles at ESPN were as a contributor on “Get Up;” anchor on “SportsCenter;” and host of red-carpet coverage at The Home Depot College Football Awards, the ESPYs and the NFL Draft. She became a mainstay in ESPN’s coverage of the College Football Playoff, NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, the Women’s College World Series in softball and the College World Series in baseball.

“Off and on camera, Laura exemplifies ZTA’s core Values of Being Rather than Seeming and Humility,” said ZTA Foundation President Carolyn Hof Carpenter. “She is authentic and knowledgeable and never passes up an opportunity to share advice and her story with future sports journalists. We are thrilled she will join us for Convention 2022 this summer.”

Laura and her husband, Josh, a retired Major League Baseball infielder and former University of Alabama baseball player, reside in Connecticut. Their daughter, Reese, born in October 2019, has her own budding sports broadcasting career. Every week for the past two seasons, ESPN’s college football coverage has included “Baby Reese Picks,” a home video segment where Reese picks her favorite from two football teams’ helmets. For the College Football Championship game in 2022, Reese, wearing a turquoise princess dress and a tiara, correctly picked the Georgia Bulldogs over her father’s alma mater to finish 14-3 for the season.

Read more about Leslie Knight and her journey from ZTA to USAF.