When Mary Hager, HS71, races, she thinks of her father. The southern Delaware native was a lifelong athlete who played basketball, softball and wrestled before a crippling inflammatory disease ultimately confined him to a wheelchair in his mid-forties.

“He was very social and loved sports,” says the 75-year-old Hager, who channels her late father’s passion and drive with each race she runs and every medal she wins.

Last September, the Blue Hen placed second at the World Triathlon Multisport Championship in Pontevedra, Spain, in her 75-79 age group. “He would just burst with pride if he could see me now,” she says of her dad.

He remains the inspiration behind Hager’s later-in-life appreciation of competitive sports. She ran her first marathon at 68 in Dusseldorf, Germany, listening to “Light My Fire” by the Doors and “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac. That qualified her to run the famous Boston Marathon, which she completed in 2017 and dedicated to her dad.

Health is important to Hager, whose generous support to UD has helped fund undergraduate research opportunities in nutrition in the College of Health Sciences. Her own undergraduate research experience fueled her desire to give back to her alma mater.

“I earned a degree with distinction, and it was really wonderful,” she recalls. “During my internship at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, I was astounded, they said I was the most scientifically prepared intern they ever had, and that ‘they’ll always take students from the University of Delaware.’”