Home Research Student Award Recipients

2006 ACSM HONOR / CITATION AWARDEES

ACSM annually recognizes individuals for distinguished careers in sports medicine and/or exercise sciences. Recipients for the 2006 Honor/Citation award are listed below. (A list of previous award recipients follows.)

The Honor Award of the American College of Sports Medicine is granted to an individual with a distinguished career of outstanding scientific and scholarly contributions to sports medicine and/or the exercise sciences. The contributions may be in the basic, applied, and/or clinical sciences; allied health and/or education. ACSM membership is not a requirement for this award.

The Citation Award of the American College of Sports Medicine is granted to an individual or group who has made significant and important contributions to sports medicine and/or the exercise sciences. These contributions may include, but are not limited to, research and scholarship; clinical care; and/or administrative or educational services in sports medicine or exercise science. ACSM membership is not a requirement for this award.

2006 Honor Award Recipient

Jack H. Wilmore, Ph.D., FACSM
SaddleBrooke, Arizona

Jack H. Wilmore, Ph.D. is the 2006 ACSM Honor Award Recipient. Dr. Wilmore was selected for ACSM’s most prestigious award based on his academic achievements in exercise and integrative physiology, his leadership in the emergence of Exercise Science over the last 40 years, his record as an educator, his professional service to ACSM and other organizations, his infectious optimism, and his unconditional willingness to help others.

Dr. Wilmore has been an intellectual leader in key areas of human physiology including body composition, development of automated gas exchange systems, human performance, the female athlete, and exercise in health promotion and disease rehabilitation. Most recently he has played a key role in the HERITAGE Family Study, the first comprehensive effort to understand the “genomic” factors that regulate adaptations to exercise training in humans. He has contributed more than 300 peer-reviewed articles, 50 plus book chapters, and numerous books including the Physiology of Sport and Exercise, a leading general textbook co-authored with his close friend Dave Costill. More impressively, in each area of his academic pursuits Jack has been at the vanguard.

After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, Dr. Wilmore held faculty positions at a number of major research universities including: the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Davis; the University of Arizona; The University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A & M University. At each of these institutions he played an important role in the emergence of Exercise Science and related fields. He retired from Texas A & M in 2003 as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology and is now the Margie Gurley Seay Centennial Professor-Emeritus of Kinesiology and Health Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Perhaps only Jack Wilmore could be a “named” professor at both The University of Texas and Texas A & M.

Jack has also mentored a huge number of undergraduate and masters students. His Ph.D. trainees are leaders throughout the exercise physiology community and he has also played an important role in educating clinicians and physician-scientists in human physiology research in specific and exercise science in general. Through his books and public lectures he has reached an even larger audience.

Dr. Wilmore is a past President of ACSM and has held a number of other ACSM leadership positions. For many years Jack was editor of Exercise and Sports Sciences Reviews and he has served on multiple editorial boards. He has also been a consultant for groups ranging from the California Highway Patrol to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As impressive as this (partial) list of contributions is, perhaps the most impressive thing about Jack is his optimism, enthusiasm and willingness to help others. This quality underpins all of his success. In this context, Jack Wilmore represents the best of ACSM and all that our organization has accomplished in the last 50 or so years.

Jack and his wife Dottie have three married daughters (Wendy, Kristi, and Melissa), six grandchildren, countless friends and even more admirers.

Back to Top

2006 Citation Award Recipients

Barbara E. Ainsworth, Ph.D., FACSM
San Diego State University
San Diego, California

This award is presented to Dr. Barbara E. Ainsworth in recognition of her original research contributions in physical activity and public health, her commitment to mentorship in exercise science, and her volunteer leadership in the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Ainsworth has a long and esteemed record as an internationally recognized expert in physical activity research. She is currently Professor, San Diego State University Department of Exercise & Nutritional Sciences.

Dr. Ainsworth has provided collaboration and consultation for scores of epidemiologists and other scientists working in the field of exercise epidemiology. She is a leader in physical activity and exercise measurement for population studies, and has consulted for numerous studies methods for collecting and analyzing exercise data. Dr. Ainsworth led the effort to categorize activities by energy expenditure, and with her colleagues has published two versions of the Compendium of Physical Activities. This compendium is widely referenced by researchers wanting to classify physical activity and exercise exposures. One advantage of the Compendium is that it is applicable to a wide range of populations, and to a variety of physical activity questionnaire instruments. For example, the Compendium was used in the Women’s Health Initiative, which has resulted in several publications including ones showing reduction in risks of breast cancer and cardiovascular disease with increased physical activity in older women (published in JAMA and NEJM, respectively). Dr. Ainsworth has authored almost 200 scientific publications over her stellar career.

She has received several previous awards including the Henry J. Montoye Scholar Award, SEACSM (2001), the AAHPERD McKenzie Award (2004), the AAHPERD Research Consortium’s Raymond Weiss Lecturer (20006), McCloy Lecturer (2002), and Scholar Lecturer (1997). She has been a Fellow of ACSM since 1992. She is a Fellow of several other prestigious organizations including the American Heart Association, the North American Society of HPERD Professionals, The American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and the Research Consortium of AAHPERD.
Dr. Ainsworth has a strong international reputation, works with the World Health Organization in its International Physical Activity Surveillance System, and has been an invited speaker at universities and meetings around the globe. She has organized and led numerous conferences and meetings on diverse topics related to physical activity and public health.

Numerous junior researchers in the field of exercise physiology have benefited from Dr. Ainsworth’s mentorship. Many of her former students are now professors in prestigious universities and research organizations, making important contributions to further the epidemiology of physical activity. Dr. Ainsworth’s mentoring of students is stellar, according to her former students and staff. She always makes copious time available for meeting with students, despite a busy schedule.

Dr. Ainsworth also has a long and esteemed history of leadership and service in ACSM. She has been Trustee, then Vice President, of ACSM (1996-2001). Therefore we would like to recognize her leadership, service, and productivity in exercise and physical activity research by awarding her the 2006 Citation Award.

Back to Top

Victor A. Convertino, Ph.D., FACSM
US Army Institute of Surgical Research
Fort Sam Houston, Texas

This award is presented to Dr. Victor A. Convertino in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the research, teaching, and outreach mission of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Vic Convertino is a senior research physiologist for the US Army Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. In his current position, Dr. Convertino has added to a long list of scientific accomplishments made in prior positions at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of Arizona, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Dr. Convertino’s research career record is impressive, consistent, and extensive with more than 200 publications of peer-reviewed manuscripts in the scientific literature. His scholarship has had a major and far reaching impact in many areas ranging from basic cardiovascular physiology, to applied aspects of exercise science, to aviation and military medicine. He was one of the early leading contributors to many areas of exercise research including: regulation of plasma volume and its interrelationship with thermoregulation during acute and chronic heat and exercise exposures; effect of acute and chronic exercise on blood pressure regulation and orthostatic competence; development of exercise training and countermeasures for astronauts and crew members of high-performance aircraft; and physiological adaptation to varying gravity environments. Perhaps his most important work is his current research designed to develop decision-support algorithms and therapeutic devices to advance the capabilities of combat medics to save lives of battlefield casualties.

Many recognize Dr. Convertino’s contributions and expertise and he is continuously invited to contribute to books and proceedings. He has delivered more than 65 scientific papers at professional meetings and more than 120 invited presentations and lectures to medical, scientific and lay groups in 34 states and 14 countries, including three lecture tours to New England, Texas and Southeast regional chapters of ACSM. He has served on numerous NASA Working Groups, as a member of the National Space Biomedical Research Institute External Advisory Council, and as a consultant to the U.S. Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery during Operation Desert Storm. In 1992, he testified to the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women to the Military. It is not surprising that he is called on by many editorial boards and has served the NIH and AIBS on study sections.

Dr. Convertino is the consummate team leader and an extremely effective collaborator because of his willingness to share ideas and resources. One only has to look at the number of visiting scientists to his lab to conclude that he has been very effective at building research teams that have been both multi-institutional as well as multi-disciplinary in their approach to solving basic and applied research problems. His extremely productive laboratory has also been an important catalyst for the development of many young scholars in their graduate and postdoctoral studies. Of the 11 Ph.D. and 10 master degree students that he has mentored through numerous adjunct faculty appointments, virtually all are active today in academic or clinical careers. This is remarkable testimony to Dr. Convertino's impact on the field. Dr. Convertino has always been generous with his time and talent as an effective teacher who brings the best out of anyone who works with him because of his infectious energetic enthusiasm and rigorous logic. His efforts have even reached beyond human sports medicine and guided research focused on athletic horses and dogs, influencing decisions related to horse racing’s biggest venues as well events such as the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest.

Dr. Convertino is a friendly and personable colleague who is a leader by example. He has served ACSM on many committees, the editorial board of MSSE, the Board of Trustees, and as Vice President. He has been recognized with both of the College's New Investigator and Visiting Scholar Awards. In testimony to his commitment to the support of graduate student research, Dr. Convertino was personally responsible for the establishment of the ACSM Foundation NASA Space Physiology Graduate Student Research Fellowship that has generated more than $120,000 of funding since 1992 in support of research conducted by 35 ACSM graduate student members.

In addition to his professional contributions, Vic Convertino is dedicated to his family and community. Since 1990, he has coached more than 25 youth teams in soccer, baseball, and basketball, and held several positions on boards of the Catholic Youth Organization. He is a certified official who has umpired or refereed more than 800 soccer, baseball, softball, and basketball games for youth sports over the past five years.

Dr. Vic Convertino’s contributions to scholarly endeavors and professional service are substantial, distinguished, and have been sustained throughout his career. This 2006 ACSM Citation Award gratefully acknowledges Dr. Convertino’s outstanding accomplishments and commitment to professional excellence in the field of exercise physiology.

Back to Top

Edward F. Coyle, Ph.D., FACSM
The University of Texas
Austin, Texas

Dr. Edward F. Coyle is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, and works in the areas of human exercise physiology and sports medicine.

Dr. Coyle obtained his B.A. degree from Queens College, CUNY, New York, his M.A. with Dr. David Costill at Ball State University, and his Ph.D. degree with Dr. Jack Wilmore at the University of Arizona. He subsequently spent three years as a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. John Holloszy at Washington University in St. Louis before moving to the University of Texas in Austin in 1982.

Eddie is currently the foremost investigator in the field of Exercise Physiology that deals with Athletic Performance. His seminal research contributions to this area include: a) elucidation of the biological factors that determine world class performance in prolonged, strenuous endurance events, and that separate champion athletes from similarly highly trained individuals who do not have the genetic endowment to become top level athletes; b) the roles of dehydration and hyperthermia in the development, and fluid replacement in the prevention, of exhaustion; c) the effects of carbohydrate supplementation on performance of athletes during prolonged, strenuous exercises; d) the need for dietary fat to restore intramuscular triglyceride stores following prolonged endurance events; e) the effects of exercise and training on the regulation of, and interactions between, fat and carbohydrate metabolism during exercise; and f) cardiovascular drift during prolonged exercise.

Eddie Coyle’s research has had a powerful impact on the field of Exercise Physiology/Athletic Performance. He has been invited to present approximately 170 lectures all over the world and, remarkably, 15 of his publications have attained Citation Classic status, meaning that they have each been cited more than 100 times.

Eddie Coyle’s enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity are infectious and his positive impact on the field of Exercise Physiology is being amplified by the outstanding young investigators whom he has trained and inspired, and who are now making important independent contributions. Eddie Coyle’s contributions to the American College of Sports Medicine and its educational programs throughout his career have been exemplary and include numerous ACSM post-graduate courses and symposia, and service to the Texas Chapter.

This 2006 ACSM Citation Award is presented to Dr. Coyle for his outstanding original research contributions to our understanding of the physiology of exercise and athletic performance and for the positive impact that he has had on improved training, nutrition and hydration of athletes.

Back to Top

Robert J. Johnson, M.D., FACSM
Primary Care Sports Medicine
Eden Prairie, Minnesota

This Citation Award is being presented to Dr. Rob Johnson for his many outstanding contributions to the College and to the discipline of Primary Care Sports Medicine.

After a brief stint at the United States Military Academy, Dr. Johnson began his career as an educator and coach upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He taught junior and senior high school math and coached football, baseball and basketball before his won-loss record necessitated a change in careers. Rob then attended medical school at the University of Minnesota completing his residency training in Family Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis in 1977.

His first seven years out of residency were spent in private practice. Rob then joined the Department of Family Medicine faculty at Hennepin County Medical Center in 1985. In 1987, Rob became a pioneer in Sports Medicine by developing a fellowship in Primary Care Sports Medicine, at the time, only one of a handful of such programs in the country. Since the inception of this fellowship he has inspired and trained 48 physicians from the specialties of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Rob has also trained countless numbers of medical students and residents who have rotated through Hennepin County’s Primary Care Sports Medicine program. Rob’s impact on the field of Primary Care Sports Medicine is hard to overstate. It is instructive to note that a number of Rob’s former fellows have gone on to academic careers, beginning sports medicine fellowships around the country.

Rob’s dedication and enthusiasm for teaching are some of his many outstanding qualifications for this award. He has given more than 100 invited presentations to local, regional, national and international audiences. Rob’s presentations excel as they incorporate not only his expertise, but a keen sense of humor, and a practical approach to the topic

Dr. Johnson has held several leadership positions within the American College of Sports Medicine. He joined ACSM in 1982. He was elected to fellowship in 1990, and was the Northland Chapter President from 1990-1991. He served on the Board of Trustees from 1996-1999. He has been on the faculty for the Team Physician Course, Advanced Team Physician Course, International Team Physician Course and was Course Director for the International Team Physician Course in India in 2005. Dr. Johnson has also played an important role in the development of Primary Care Sports Medicine as a discipline. He was a founding member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and served as that organization’s president from 2002-2003. Rob’s vision and leadership at a national level are also examples of why he is being honored by ACSM with the Citation Award.

Rob has worked tirelessly as a sideline physician throughout his career. He is a regular at the Minnesota State High School League Tournaments, covering those events for the past 20 years. He’s been involved in the USA Cup Soccer tournament for 17 years. He participated as a Volunteer Physician for the U.S. Olympic Committee in 1986 and 1989.

He continues to serve as medical director for several long-distance running events in Minnesota. Which leads to another one of Rob’s passions…running. He has completed more marathons than any of his 48 fellows, including the Twin Cities Marathon which he has completed every year since its’ inception. He is truly an example of practicing what you preach. For years, Rob’s fellows have been trying to keep up with him, and cheering him on at the Twin Cities Marathon.

In addition, Rob has made significant contributions to the literature in the field of Primary Care Sports Medicine. He has 24 peer-reviewed publications and 17 book chapters covering a wide range of topics in sports medicine. He is an editorial board member for Physican and Sportsmedicine and Postgraduate Medicine, and reviews manuscripts for Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine. Among other positions he holds, perhaps the most cherished is as the CTSPIP – President in Perpetuity of the Crossed Tips Society– a loose organization of his former fellows.

Most importantly, he has raised two outstanding young men, and is married to his best friend, and competitive soul mate, Bonnie. Rob is a teacher, mentor and friend to many of us in the field of Sports Medicine. It is truly an honor to know him, learn from him, work with him and playwith him.

This Citation Award recognizes Dr. Johnson’s many outstanding contributions to the American College of Sports Medicine and to the discipline of Primary Care Sports Medicine.

Back to Top

James F. Sallis, Jr., Ph.D., FACSM
San Diego State University
San Diego, California

Understanding behavioral determinants of health is a complex, evolving, yet vitally important field of inquiry, particularly in exercise science and sports medicine. As never before, how people live, the choices they make, and the forces that shape those choices are key underpinnings of the health of individuals and populations. This ACSM Citation award recognizes the intellectual and energetic leadership of Dr. James F. Sallis, Jr., FACSM for his unparalleled contributions in this area.

Dr. Sallis earned a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree at Belhaven College (Mississippi) in (1973), a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in psychology (1978) and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D., 1981) degree from at Memphis State University. Additionally, Dr. Sallis was a post-doctoral scholar in preventive cardiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine between 1981 and 1983. After several years at University of California, San Diego, he has been on the faculty of the psychology department at San Diego State University since 1989.

Dr. Sallis’ unique and truly outstanding contribution has been his ground-breaking work in the area of individual behavioral and environmental determinants of physical activity and behavior change strategies designed to promote physical activity in a variety of populations. He has done extensive work with children, adults, special populations, and in developing the entire field of behavioral epidemiology. In fact, this field of behavioral exercise science has developed and flourished largely due to Dr. Sallis’ vision, energy, leadership, and his many scientific contributions. Dr. Sallis has consistently been a thought leader and innovator in a variety of arenas of research and promotion. Examples include cutting-edge contributions for physical activity counseling strategies for physicians, improvements in, and refocusing of, school physical education training and curricula, and most recently work in the area of environmental design and determinants of physical activity for public health. Dr. Sallis’ contributions and ground-breaking work, in particular in child and adolescent populations, has opened an entire new field of opportunity for research and promotion.

Dr. Sallis’ publication record is truly impressive. His substantial contributions of original research, book chapters and monographs constitute a major body of scientific work, particularly in the area of behavioral aspects of physical activity. So influential is the body of work that Dr. Sallis has contributed that the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and Thomson-ISI® have identified him as one of the 250 most cited researchers in the entire field of social and behavioral sciences. Several of Dr. Sallis’ publications have been cited well over 50 times in the scientific literature, an unusually high frequency. In addition, Dr. Sallis has co-authored three books.

In addition to his research contributions, Dr. Sallis has worked tirelessly to improve public health with physical activity promotion through policy changes, professional and public education, volunteerism, and role modeling. Although these efforts have been numerous, some select highlights of his career service include: National Institutes of Health Community Prevention and Control Study Section, Editorial Board member for the 1996 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, service on a variety of editorial boards and consultancies. Collectively, these and other efforts, indicate the strong influence Dr. Sallis has had in the field of behavioral exercise science.

Dr. Sallis has been a member of the College since 1987 and was accepted as a Fellow 1992. In addition to participation on several standing and ad hoc ACSM committees, Dr. Sallis has been a prominent leader at the Board of Trustees level, having served on the Board 1999-2001.

Few investigators have the opportunity to shape an entire field of investigation or bother to take the substantial risks to do so. Continuing his cutting-edge approach, most recently Dr. Sallis has begun building a new field of physical activity research and promotion as the principal investigator of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported national initiative to research and promote aspects of the physical environment that can help entire communities to become and remain physically active. Active Living Research is a $12.5 million dollar project and is innovative in that it is designed to stimulate and support research to identify environmental factors and policies that influence physical activity in populations. This is a new, innovative, transdisciplinary field that brings together researchers from a variety of previously disparate areas of expertise to forge new common directions in the promotion of physical activity.

In sum, Dr. Sallis is a leader, and an active, innovative, and creative visionary in behavioral science research and promotion of physical activity and health, and has contributed substantially to the American College of Sports Medicine. He has helped to shape, define and lead the field of behavioral and population-oriented exercise science as one of its most distinguished leaders in the past 15 years. His career accomplishments are truly unique and have helped advance the ACSM in this growing area and make him extremely deserving of the ACSM Citation Award.

Back To Top

Past Honor/Citation Recipients Include:

HONOR AWARD RECIPIENTS

Back to Top

CITATION AWARD RECIPIENTS