Tempe, AZ – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is pleased to announce today the selection of Charles “Chas” Mulcahy (Marquette, ‘59 & ‘62) as the recipient of the 2026 ITA Jon Vegosen Chairman’s Award as endowed by John Hess.
Honoring the longtime contributions of ITA Chairman Emeritus Jon Vegosen, the ITA Chairman’s Award is given annually in recognition of an individual who has given lifelong service to our sport across a variety of mediums.
“Chas Mulcahy represents everything the Jon Vegosen Chairman’s Award was created to celebrate, a lifetime of service to college tennis that goes far beyond the court,” stated ITA Chairman of the Board, Neel Grover. “From his playing days at Marquette to co-founding the Milwaukee Tennis Classic fifty years ago, Chas has spent decades building opportunities for student-athletes and strengthening our sport’s community. On behalf of the ITA, I’m honored to recognize him with this award.”
Spending his whole life playing, supporting, and advocating for college tennis, including using college tennis for community outreach for the underserved, Chas Mulcahy has embodied all of the defining characteristics of the ITA Jon Vegosen Chairman’s Award, providing lifelong service to our sport.
Playing collegiately at Marquette University, Mulcahy served as the No. 1 singles player from 1957-1959, finishing with a career singles record of 28-4. Mulcahy was a two-time participant in the NCAA Championships and was a team captain in each of the three years he was on the team.
In 1959, Mulcahy was honored with the McCahill Award at Marquette, which is given annually to a Marquette scholar-athlete who has shown the highest level of scholarship, leadership, and athletics, an honor his daughter Meg would also receive thirty-one years later, also in tennis.
Deciding to pursue a career in law, Mulcahy graduated in 1962 from the Marquette Law School, where he was soon hired by a law firm, but elected to put his aspirations of practicing law on hold to enlist in the Air Force in the summer of 1962. Following his service, Mulcahy decided to pursue public office, where he would dispatch a 32-year incumbent to be elected for a position on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
Working on numerous pieces of legislation during his time on the County Board, Mulcahy was honored in 2015 with the John L. Doyne Collaboration Award for his leadership in founding the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center.
In 1966, Mulcahy established his very own law firm that would go on to have six offices across the state of Wisconsin and employ approximately 400 individuals across all locations.
Returning to his Marquette tennis roots in 1975, Mulcahy, alongside legendary Marquette athletic director and men’s basketball coach Al McGuire, co-founded the Milwaukee Tennis Classic (MTC), which was founded with the goal of creating a national collegiate tennis event that would place Marquette, Milwaukee, and the State of Wisconsin on the national tennis map. With 2026 marking the tournament’s 50th year, the MTC is one of the oldest and most historic collegiate tournaments on the college tennis schedule.
To honor Mulcahy’s contributions and legacy, the Milwaukee Tennis Classic Sportsmanship Award has been presented in honor of Mulcahy each year. This award celebrates one young man and one young woman who demonstrate meaningful and significant sportsmanship while competing in the annual tournament.
In 2020, Mulcahy was the co-founder, with the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and the University of San Diego, of the San Diego Veterans Tennis Classic. This tournament aims to celebrate San Diego’s military heritage and support veterans organizations and community partners through annual tennis competitions featuring elite athletes from colleges across the country.
Mulcahy has also established the Al/Adam Hurvis Education Foundation, which offers scholarships to incoming college students, and the Life After Tennis group that helps Marquette tennis players work on the skills they need for future jobs. In 1976, Mulcahy was honored by the Marquette “M” Club as the organization’s Man of the Year, and just a few years later in 1988, was inducted into the Marquette University Athletic Hall of Fame.
With this honor, Mulcahy becomes the fifth recipient of the ITA Jon Vegosen Chairman’s Award. Previous recipients of the ITA Chairman’s Award include Charlie Hoeveler (2022), Dick Gould (2023), Michael D. Case (2024), and Jon Vegosen (2025).
Mulcahy will be honored on Saturday, August 29th during the ITA Leadership Awards Weekend, which leads up to the 2026 US Open. At that time, Mulcahy will be celebrated alongside other dignitaries as well as several student-athletes who have won national awards for their outstanding achievements in the areas of STEM, leadership, and sportsmanship.
About the ITA: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and an authority for the sport and its members. Comprised of 1,260 colleges and universities, 20,000 student-athletes, 1,700 varsity programs, 3,000 coaches, and 1,350 college tennis officials, the ITA empowers college tennis coaches at all levels to deliver vibrant tennis programs that are vital to their college communities and transformational to their student-athletes. Follow the college tennis season on the ITA website and ITA social channels on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
