Clare O’Brien added to her trophy case yet again with Boise State’s 2020-21 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. O’Brien, whose two All-America honors on the outdoor track this year helped her earn a share of Boise State’s 2020-21 Athlete of the Year Award, is currently working toward her master’s of business administration and applying her knowledge on campus and beyond.
Already a seven-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree and three-time MW Scholar-Athlete, O’Brien will likely add to those honors this month as she carries a 3.91 grade-point average through the first half of her MBA program.
“For an MBA program that prides itself on the high caliber of our students, Clare stands out as exceptional,” said Trisha Stevens Lamb, director of Boise State’s Career Track MBA program. “Not only is she one of the brightest and hardest working students in the program, she makes her classmates better by being a part of the MBA cohort.”
She finished her undergraduate work in August 2020, earning a degree in environmental studies with a minor in sustainability.
Away from the track and outside of the classroom, O’Brien uses her expertise and determination to make her community a better place. She has worked on campus to raise awareness and increase student engagement with sustainability programs, as well as creating a project to show the feasibility of implementing a campus composting program.
Beyond Boise State, she worked with the Red Cross to use volunteer data from across the country to create actionable insights to increase volunteer rates and retention. The Red Cross selected her project for implementation.
O’Brien exhausted her athletic eligibility, but not before earning five All-American honors and now joining former teammate Allie Ostrander as the only Bronco to earn Boise State’s Athlete of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards in the same year. This fall she will finish her second degree from Boise State and continue drawing on her education and experience to make a difference in the world.
“Just a great student, great person, great teammate,” said Boise State track and field head coach Corey Ihmels. “She’s going to have a fantastic career outside of track and field and cross country and I’m excited to see what she does in the future. We hope to have a bunch more Clares come through the door, over the next few years.”