Class of 2007 Hall of Fame inductees are, left to right, Bobby Ross, Laura Williams Hartman, Keith Brooking and Conrad Nichols.

Football coach Bobby Ross, who directed the 1990 Yellow Jackets to a national championship, headlined four celebrated athletes named to the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in September.

Joining Ross for the athletic honor was football All-American linebacker Keith Brooking, Cls 99; softball All-American Laura Williams Hartman, CE 98, MS CE 99; and seven-time track All-American Conrad Nichols, Cls 96. The four were recognized during halftime at the football game with Clemson Sept. 29.

"The accomplishments of Coach Ross and Keith Brooking, both at Georgia Tech and in the NFL, are well-chronicled. Laura is one of the pioneers in softball and women's sports here at Tech, and Conrad is another in a long line of top-notch runners and people in our track program," said Dan Radakovich, director of Athletics. "Their entry into the Hall of Fame is well-deserved."

Ross, who was head coach from 1987 to 1991, led Tech to the UPI national championship and the Institute's first Atlantic Coast Conference football title in 1990. Among his many honors at Tech was National Coach of the Year in 1990 by the Kodak/American Football Coaches Association. NFL teams drafted 17 players he coached at Tech. He went on to a successful head coaching career in the NFL, which included a Super Bowl appearance with the San Diego Chargers.

Brooking, Tech's leading tackler with 467, was captain of Tech's 1997 squad that started the Jackets' current bowl streak of 10 years in a row. The Senoia, Ga., native was the No. 12 pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, and he has been named to the Pro Bowl five times.

Hartman was Laura Williams when she became the first softball All-American at Tech. She is the first softball player to be inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame. She was named ACC Player of the Year in 1997, capping a four-year career during which she was named All-ACC four times. She still is the only softball player in Tech history to accomplish that.

Nichols was an outdoor national champion as a member of Tech's 4x400-meter relay team in 1994. He was a seven-time All-American and eight-time ACC champion. Nine times he earned All-ACC honors for his performances in conference meets.