
Dr. Thom McKenzie, ENS Emeritus Professor, will receive the Luther Halsey Gulick Medal at the 2018 SHAPE America National Convention in Nashville in March.
Founded in 1885, SHAPE America (Society for Health and Physical Education; formerly AAHPERD) is the nation’s largest membership organization of health and physical education professionals (approximately 14,000 national members plus 35,000 state affiliates). The Luther Halsey Gulick Medal Award, established in 1923, is SHAPE America’s highest honor and is bestowed annually to a member for long and distinguished service associated with physical education and physical activity.
Dr. McKenzie has been an investigator on over 15 nationally-funded grants and authored/co-authored over 250 professional papers. He previously received 10 top awards from SHAPE America. These include the AAHPERD Alliance Scholar, Research Consortium Scholar Award, R. Tait McKenzie Award, Raymond A. Weiss Lecturer Award, Research Consortium McCloy Lecturer, RQES Scholar Award, CSPAP Research Award, Physical Education Teacher Education Honor Award, Curriculum, and Instruction Honor Award and the Hall of Fame Award. He was recognized by SHAPE America affiliates, including Presidential Citations from Southwest District AAHPERD and California AHPERD (twice).
He has also been cited for his work locally, including a “Community Champion” award at the Fitness Summit in 2006. SPARK PE, an evidence-based curriculum and staff development program which he co-founded in 1989, continues to be distributed nationally (sparkpe.org). Also, Thom and co-authors have received 7 Exemplary Research Paper Awards from the Special Interest Group (SIG) for Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education of the American Educational Research Association.
He has served on the Sports Science Board of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition (PCFSN) and he has received both the PCFSN Lifetime Achievement Award (2012) and the Science Board Honor Award (2014). Internationally Dr. McKenzie is well known for his research as well as a being a 16-year volunteer staff member for USA National and Olympic Volleyball teams. Additional information on his work can be found at thomckenzie.com.
The School of Exercise and National Sciences congratulate Dr. Thom McKenzie on his latest award!