Honorary Degree - Johnny Holliday

Johnny Holliday has one of the most familiar faces and voices across Washington and Baltimore radio and television. He’s best known for his 47-year run as the Voice of the Terps, calling more than 2,000 University of Maryland football and basketball games that include 16 bowl games, 12 Sweet Sixteens, two Final Fours and the men’s basketball team’s 2002 national championship victory. 

Elsewhere, Holliday has handled play-byplay for George Washington basketball, Navy football, ACC women’s basketball, the Baltimore Orioles, the Washington Nationals, the Washington Bullets and national gymnastics. He hosted Nationals pre- and postgame shows on MASN for 12 seasons and previously worked alongside Ted Williams on Washington Senators pregame radio. His work has earned national recognition; Dick Vitale named him a Top 15 play-by-play voice in the country. 

His national broadcasting credits include ABC Radio sports reports heard coast to coast, coverage of the Winter and Summer Olympics, championship boxing, the USFL with Paul Hornung, the Masters, the Liberty Bowl and the Crosby celebrity golf tournament. Holliday also hosted Maryland football and basketball coaches’ shows and served as a public address announcer for the Cleveland Browns, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Warriors. 

Before arriving in Washington in 1969, Holliday was a top-rated radio personality in Cleveland, New York City and San Francisco, where he was named America’s No. 1 disc jockey. He was inducted into the Radio Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2003, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame features his work. 

Holliday has appeared on stage in numerous productions and earned a Helen Hayes Award nomination. He has also dedicated significant time to charitable efforts, raising millions of dollars through events supporting organizations such as Special Olympics and Children’s Hospital. 

In 2005, the All-American Football Foundation bestowed on him the Lindsay Nelson Outstanding Sportscaster award, and in 2006, he was honored by the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame with the Chris Schenkel Award. His many other honors include Washingtonian magazine’s Washingtonian of the Year, the Skeeter Francis Award and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Gold Circle Award. Holliday has also authored two books, including “From Rock to Jock,” an autobiography. 

Holliday and his wife, Mary Clare, are the proud parents of Kellie, Tracie and Moira, and have 11 grandchildren.