Dr. Regina Cavanaugh Murphy

  • Class
    1987
  • Induction
    2000
  • Sport(s)
    Track & Field
Rice, 1987
• 1986 Honorable Mention Academic All-America®
• 1987 First Team Academic All-America®


Dr. Regina Cavanaugh Rice was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Dr. Regina Cavanaugh was a star shot-putter and Rhodes Scholar candidate at Rice University. 

Cavanaugh won three straight NCAA championships from 1985 through 1987 with remarkably consistent marks of 56-7½, 56-9½ and 56-10¾. Cavanaugh also won three indoor titles and earned a total of nine All-American honors, and selected to the NCAA All-Decade Team for her accomplishments.

Cavanaugh was an alternate for both the 1984 and 188 Olympic Games. She placed fifth in the shot put at the 1988 Olympic Track and Field Trials

Prior to completing her athletic career, Cavanaugh began her graduate studies at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and is now a pediatric psychiatrist in Killeen, Texas. 

Cavanaugh is an active booster for the Rice University Owl Club, and in 1992, she was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame.