The family dynasty began with Dorothy Hindle, who arrived at Stanford from her native England in 1909 carrying, among other things, a field hockey stick. Four generations of scholar-athletes followed in her footsteps. There was Hindle's daughter, Liz Johnson, '51 (synchronized swimming), her grandchildren, Craig Johnson, '76 (tennis), and Christal Johnson Neal, '74, (tennis), and her great-granchildren, Tyler Neal, '98 (volleyball), and Sarah Neal, '99 (volleyball). Not to mention Liz's husband, Ric Johnson, '48 (intramural football) -- father of Craig and Christal -- and Christal's husband, Dale Neal, JD/MBA '74, (rugby) -- father of Sarah and Tyler. Got it?
In all, the family has accumulated 10 Stanford degrees -- and five NCAA championship rings. "If you didn't play sports in this family, you weren't anyone," laughs Ric, who chaired the Stanford Athletic Board from 1978 to 1979. The family also endowed a tennis scholarship in 1977.
The championship rings belong to Craig, Tyler and Sarah. Craig picked up two for Stanford's national tennis triumphs in 1973 and 1974. Sarah won a pair -- for the women's volleyball titles in 1995 and again in 1997. And Tyler has one for his role in men's volleyball's NCAA success in 1997.
With genes like these, Stanford sports fans might start thinking now about Dorothy Hindle's great-great-grandchildren.
