MADISON, Wis. — Matt Henningsen's standing as one of the top scholar-athletes in college football has been made official.

The Wisconsin senior defensive end was named Wednesday by the National Football Foundation as a member of the elite NFF National Scholar-Athlete class and finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy for 2021. A graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Henningsen graduated summa cum laude last December with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and a 4.0 grade-point average.

Henningsen is one of 13 NFF National Scholar-Athlete selections who will vie for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier academic award — often dubbed the "Academic Heisman" — that annually recognizes the best in the nation for combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. He is the lone member of this year's class to boast a perfect undergraduate GPA.

The NFF National Scholar-Athlete class, each of whom will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, was selected from a list of 176 finalists across all NCAA divisions and the NAIA.

Henningsen is Wisconsin's seventh NFF National Scholar-Athlete, joining Dave Fronek (1966), Tom Stauss (1979), Jim Leonhard (2004), Joe Thomas (2006), Scott Tolzien (2010) and D'Cota Dixon (2018).

This year's National Scholar-Athlete class will travel to the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas on Dec. 7, where one of them will be named the winner of the 32nd Campbell Trophy and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

"We couldn't be more proud of what Matt has accomplished and it's fantastic to see him recognized for all of his hard work," UW head coach Paul Chryst said. "I think the title of 'Scholar-Athlete' is particularly fitting for him because he's maintained this tremendously challenging academic path, has embraced the challenge of playing his position and has committed to doing both at such a high level. He can truly say he has maximized his experience as a college football player, and everyone in our program is better for having Henny here."

A native of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Henningsen began his career as a walk-on and quickly made an impact for the Badgers. In 2018, he became the first Wisconsin walk-on since at least 1990 to start a season opener as a freshman, and he would go on to earn a scholarship that year.

An honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2019, Henningsen was part of a defense that ranked fourth nationally in total defense (287.1 yards per game). The 2019 Badgers won 10 games and finished with a No. 11 ranking while claiming the Big Ten West Division title and earning a berth in the Rose Bowl Game.

Henningsen missed most of the abbreviated 2020 season due to an injury but has returned in 2021 to help anchor the Badgers' defensive line, part of an imposing front seven that has Wisconsin leading the nation in rushing defense (53.3 yards per game) and ranking second in the country in total defense (223 yards per game).

Named first-team Academic All-America by CoSIDA last season, Henningsen graduated summa cum laude in December 2020 with a degree in Electrical Engineering and a certificate in Mathematics. He is expected to finish his master's in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with a focus on machine learning and signal processing, this December. The two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and a two-time UW Athletic Board Scholar.

During the summer of 2021, Henningsen worked on a project modeling the brain using electrocorticographic brain data. He previously worked on a research project at the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research focusing on developing a convolutional neural network to detect cerebral hemorrhaging on MRI images. Henningsen has also served as a lab assistant for nuclear diffusion bonding research on campus.

About the Campbell Trophy & NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award

Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete awards, Presented by Fidelity Investments, celebrate their 63rd year in 2021. The Campbell Trophy was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program's prestige. The trophy is named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, an All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia's 1961 Ivy League championship team who found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell's strong leadership and unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley.

2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class

• Troy Andersen, LB – Montana State (3.91 GPA - Agricultural Business)
• Thomas Booker, DE – Stanford (3.88 GPA - Economics & Communications)
• Mike Caliendo, OL – Western Michigan (3.90 GPA - Biomedical Sciences)
• Sean Clifford, QB – Penn State (3.45 GPA - Public Relations)
• Cameron Dukes, QB – Lindsey Wilson [KY] (3.89 GPA - Physical Education & Health)
• Patrick Fields, DB – Oklahoma (3.82 GPA - Accounting)
• Matt Henningsen, DE – Wisconsin (4.00 GPA - Electrical Engineering)
• Aidan Hutchinson, DE – Michigan (3.54 GPA - Applied Exercise Science)
• Joshua King, LB - U.S. Merchant Marine Academy [NY] (3.73 GPA - Marine Engineering)
• Charlie Kolar, TE – Iowa State (3.99 GPA - Mechanical Engineering)
• Henry Litwin, WR – Slippery Rock [PA] (3.66 GPA - Safety Management)
• Sean Mahone, S – West Virginia (3.60 GPA - Management Information Systems)
• Grant Morgan, LB – Arkansas (3.66 GPA - Kinesiology)