Two Michigan Ross BBAs Receive Prestigious Hockey Award For Scholarly Achievement and Athletic Ability

Jack Becker, BBA ’21 and Strauss Mann, BBA ’22, received the 2020 Carl Isaacson Award, which is presented annually to the top student athletes on the University of Michigan hockey team. This was the first year two hockey players received the award. 

Becker and Mann are no strangers to receiving accolades. Becker received the 2017-2018 U-M Student-Athlete Male Rookie of the Year Award. Mann earned the same award in the 2018-2019 season, as well as the 2018-2019 AHCA Academic-All American Scholar and the Hal Downes Award for Team MVP this year. 

The Carl Isaacson Award is presented each season to players who best combine high scholastic achievement with their athletic ability. This award honors the memory of Carl Isaacson, longtime athletic trainer for Michigan hockey and charter member of the Dekers Club.

“Receiving this particular award is a huge honor that means a lot to me because it is based on performance in academics and athletics,” said Becker. “We have a lot of impressive student-athletes on our team so I was pretty humbled and excited!” 

Upon receiving the news that he was a recipient of the Carl Isaacson Award, Mann said the first person he told was his cousin Marcel, who has been one of his greatest supporters and a major reason he has been able to stay positive since the season abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sharing the honor in receiving this award also means a lot to both these BBAs.

“It is such an honor to receive it with Jack,” explained Mann. “He is someone I look up to since he is a grade ahead of me, and someone who has helped guide me through my initial experiences at Michigan and at Ross. I would not have wanted it to be any other way.” 

Becker shared a similar sentiment. “Strauss and I are actually roommates, and good friends, so it was fun to be recognized in this light with him,” he said. 

Both Becker and Mann said that the skills they have learned in Ross have translated to the ice rink and vice versa. 

“The ability to work in teams of diverse people, which we do a lot of in Ross, has translated over to my teamwork and leadership in hockey,” he explained. “There are a lot of parallels between business and hockey.”

Mann echoed his teammate’s sentiment. “I think that it’s awesome how much emphasis Ross puts on group work and collaboration, and I think this idea fits perfectly with the fact that Jack and I both received the award together,” he said. “We help each other as players, students, and people and have always leaned on each other’s strengths to make ourselves and the team better.”