Colorado, 1963
• 1960 Academic All-America®
• 1960 Academic All-America®
Joe Romig was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 1989.
An academic standout and outstanding lineman at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Joe Romig had a successful career of scholarship and sport. On the field Romig was a small but fierce Buffaloes lineman. His determination made him the top choice for the All-American honors in 1960 and 1961. Later he was named the nation's best lineman after leading CU to its first Big Eight championship in 1961. Romig had a 3.87 grade point average at Colorado while studying the sciences and earning a B.S. in physics. Romig ended his football career at graduation in ‘63, passing up professional football to study at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. While at Oxford Romig earned a masters degree in plasma physics and returned to CU-Boulder for his Ph.D. in Astrogeophysics, the study of the solar system and stellar matter.
Although he was done playing football, the community continued to recognize his incredible academic achievements. He was selected by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame as the recipient of an Earl H. Blaik Fellowship for graduate studies by a scholar-athlete. Also, he won the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy and the NCAA's Silver Anniversary award. He was named the first recipient of the Kodak/American Football Coaches Association All-American Life Achievement Award.
Romig returned to his alma mater and taught classes at CU in physics and astronomy. He has worked at Radio Physics Inc. in Boulder, analyzing radio emissions picked up by the Voyager satellite on its journey past the planets Jupiter and Saturn.