Christa Gannon was the female winner of the 1994 Walter Byers Award, the National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

's highest academic honor, in recognition of being the nation's top female scholar-athlete. She graduated with honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Following graduation, she went to law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

, first at Northwestern University School of Law

Northwestern University School of Law

The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...

 before transferring to Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...

 where she graduated in 1997. After law school she won a George Soros

George Soros

George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...

fellowship for postgraduate study.