North Park University's Josh Startup was named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin's (CCIW) 2012 Man of the Year Monday.

A member of the Vikings' football team, Startup was chosen through a voting process conducted by the CCIW Senior Woman Administrators and Faculty Athletics Representatives. He was part of a group of two other nominees that included Wheaton's Tim McCrary (basketball) and Illinois Wesleyan's Jordan Zimmer (basketball). Startup is the first North Park football player in history to earn the CCIW Man of the Year honor.

"Congratulations to Josh!  This is an outstanding recognition for a most deserving and humble young man," North Park head coach Scott Pethtel said.  "Josh has been an exemplary member of this program and we are proud to have had him with us and to call him a Viking.  I think the most impressive things about Josh are his work ethic, his sincere humility and his genuine desire to help anyone in any way he can.  He has been the embodiment of what we recognize as the '3 Pillars' of our program: number one, being men of character, number two Academic Excellence, and number three developing our God-Given athletic abilities...in that order."

Startup, a Chemistry major (3.92 GPA) from Osceola, Indiana and Penn High School, won a pair of institutional awards including a Distinguished Senior award, as well as being named a North Park Outstanding Senior in Chemistry in 2012. He was also a four-time CCIW academic all-conference member and a two-time recipient of the conference's Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference award (2010-11 and 2011-12).

Startup received the North Park Presidential Scholarship from 2008-2010 and a Chemistry Department Honors Scholarship from 2010-2012. He participated in the North Park Chemistry Club all four years, acting as President, Vice President and Historian during that time.

In the community, Startup participated in a water quality test of the Chicago River, was a tutor helping students and adults, and participated in North Park's Service Day as well as the Youth Chemistry Demo Days. He was a chemistry hygiene student worker, disposing of hazardous chemicals in accordance to safety policies, green chemistry and state laws.

A team captain as a senior and a four-year letter winner as an offensive lineman, Startup was part of the football team's leadership council the last three years.

The CCIW Man of the Year award was established in 2008 to recognize the conference's top male student-athlete, similar to the NCAA's recognition of its top female student-athlete, which the CCIW participates in by submitting one female nominee at the end of each
academic year.