Notre Dame, 1981
• 1980 First Team Academic All-America®
Dr. Robert Burger was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bob Burger was a walk-on during Notre Dame’s 1977 National Championship football season, but by his senior year he was an Academic All-American.
The Cincinnati, Ohio, native played football at LaSalle High School before attending ND. He rose from a walk-on to earn a scholarship during his junior and senior seasons and won monograms each year from 1978-1980.
As a senior in 1980, Burger started at offensive guard for the Irish. In addition to being named an Academic All-American, he won the National Football Foundation’s Dolly Cohen Award, given to the nation’s football scholar-athlete of the year. Burger also received Notre Dame’s Byron V. Kanaley Award, an honor reserved for the senior monogram athlete who is the most exemplary student and leader.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science, Burger received a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholarship to attend the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He graduated from medical school in 1985 in the top third of his class.
Burger returned to his Cincinnati roots to work as an orthopedic surgeon. He works at Beacon Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Sharonville, Ohio, with a specialization in treatment, research and education about knee and shoulder injuries.
Sports continues to play a large part in Burger’s life. He serves as the Head Team Physician and co-director of Sports Medicine at Xavier University, the team physician for the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team and team physician for his alma mater, LaSalle High School.