Past Award Winners: N–Z

Mr. Stella is a proud IU alumnus. He received his B.S. in 1967 from the School of Public Health, Indiana University-Bloomington, and he went on to receive his M.S. in Health Administration from the Richard Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI. Ken is a previous member of the board of visitors at the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, a former member of the advisory committee for the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue University, a former board member of St. Vincent Health, and former member of the community advisory board of Harris Bank.

Mr. Stella has proudly served the community. He began his career at the Morgan County Memorial Hospital, where he worked from 1968 to 1984 as an Assistant Administrator and Administrator, respectively. In 1984, he went to serve as President of the Indiana Hospital Association. He served as President until his retirement in 2007.

Mr. Stella has received many honors and awards. He was appointed to the Sagamore of the Wabash by Governor Evan Bayh, named Indiana Senior Healthcare Executive of the year by the American College of Health Care Executives in 1994, and he received the Award of Merit from the Indiana Hospital Association in 2006.

Ken and his wife Cindy currently reside in Carmel, Indiana. They are the proud parents of two children, Kenya and Kevin, and the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren: Drew, Lauren, Megan, Augie, Kate, Kinley and Sarah.

Brian Shepherd, B.S. '99 is making a difference in children's lives through his work as a PE teacher.

Over the years, he as has also worked or volunteered as a basketball and cross country coach at area schools. As a living example of the School of Public Health mission, Shepherd inspires young people to stay active and reach their potential, promoting health and wellness and giving back to his community.

He is also a tremendous asset to Indiana University and the School of Public Health. Shepherd has been a board member of the Monroe County chapter of IU Alumni Association for several years and served as president. He was recently appointed to the IUAA executive council, furthering his service to the university.

Shepherd is one of the most loyal IU fans out there; not just sports but the school, programming and students. He loves IU, and advocates for the university and school whenever possible, participating in leadership conferences and attending alumni functions.

He is a true Hoosier and deserving of recognition for all that he has given to the university and to his community through his work as a teacher and volunteer in several different capacities.

Robert (Bob) Nickovich began his career with the Lake County Parks and Recreation department as recreation supervisor in 1972. He later became director of the planning and development division prior to his appointment by the board of directors to the position of CEO in 1981.

During his 42 years of service to the community, his efforts toward the development and promotion of parks and recreation and quality of life issues for Northwest Indiana have been well recognized. Since being appointed CEO, five park sites, two multi-use trails, the acclaimed Deep River Waterpark, and regional attraction Bellaboo's Play and Discovery Center have been added to the now twelve park system.

But Mr. Nickovich's impact extends far beyond one county. Through his work with IPRA and many other professional organizations, he has been a strong voice in support of parks and recreation for decades. He has been a mentor to dozens of young professionals, some of whom began their careers at Lake County fresh from college and later moved into leadership roles of their own. He views current conditions as a challenge as to how best we can meet the public demands for quality active and resource- based creation opportunities while confronting tax cap and other storm clouds.

Each of the parks in the Lake County system are a testament to his leadership, and the many friends he has made over the years in the professional are a reflection of his willingness to help wherever he can. His past awards include recipient of the Professional of the Year award by the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau in 1998, Recipient of the Department of Natural Resources Conservationist of the Year Award in 2000, and Indiana Park and Recreation Professional of the Year in 2008.

Tom Templin is a two-time graduate of Indiana University with both Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Physical Education. He is well known as an author and editor of numerous journal publications, book chapters and books in Physical Education and he has served in leadership roles and has presented numerous national and international papers for various professional organizations including the National Academy of Kinesiology, American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the International Association for Physical Education in Higher Education (AIESEP). Dr. Templin is a former President of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). He has received various honors through his career including the 2012 Scholar Award from the Special Interest Group on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education within the American Educational Research Association, as well as the 2008 Curriculum and Instruction Honor Award from the Curriculum and Instruction Academy within NASPE. He is a past chair of the Department of Kinesiology and past Assistant Vice President for Student Services at Purdue University, where his research focused on the lives and careers of physical education teachers in relation to socialization theory, role theory, affective events theory, burnout and teacher resilience. Templin was most recently named the 2014 C.H. McCloy Lecturer by the Research Council for the Society for Health and Physical Educators (formerly AAHPERD) for his outstanding work.

Vicki Scott graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Therapeutic Recreation before returning to earn her Masters of Science in 1981. Following graduation she accepted a position at Hook Rehabilitation Center in Indianapolis, Indiana as a recreational therapist, eventually becoming Program Manager in 1994. Her responsibilities included both inpatient units and the outpatient clinic. Within the past few months, she accepted a role with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) based in Tucson, Arizona and she is working as a CARF Resource Specialist.

Ms. Scott is very active in Indiana University and her profession. She served several terms as a member of the School of Public Health Alumni Association Board of Directors, she was elected President of the Indiana Therapeutic Recreation Association, and she served as the treasurer and co-chairperson of the public policy committee for the Recreation Therapists of Indiana (RTI). During her time with RTI, she was honored as the outstanding professional within the organization in 2003 and 2004. In addition, she has served as a Board Member at Large, Treasurer, and most recently as the President for the American Therapeutic Recreation Association.

Laura Newton currently serves as Assistant Director and COO of Visit Bloomington. She has become regarded as one of the best known and respected professionals in the local tourism industry.

A 1987 graduate of the School in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies, Laura began her career in the meeting/hospitality industry associated with "Visit Bloomington" in 1988.

During her professional tenure, she has been involved in all areas of marketing including tourism, motor coach, conventions, sports, and niche development. Laura is an inspiration in her devotion and commitment to Indiana University. She is a proud alumna who supports IU through various efforts including participation on the Monroe County Alumni Chapter board, guest speaking, evaluation panels, hiring staff and internship positions at Visit Bloomington.

She is also a volunteer for numerous other organizations throughout the community. The John Endwright Award exists to recognize the service and contributions that alumni make back to their professions and to their alma mater; Laura Newton is an outstanding example and an outstanding recipient.

Harrison B. Wilson is a native of Amsterdam, New York. He served in the United States Navy from 1945 until 1947, when he enrolled at Kentucky State University at the age of nineteen. There he received his bachelor's degree, was an honor student and a star athlete in basketball, football, baseball and track. In the early 1950s, he enrolled at Indiana University where he received his master's in Physical Education and Ph.D. in health science and administration from the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.

During those years and beyond, Dr. Wilson worked as a professor, administrator and coach at Jackson State College (now Jackson State University). Wilson was the head basketball coach from 1951 to 1960. He then became chairman of the Department of Health and Physical Education as well as chairman and professor of health and physical education at Tennessee State. Dr. Wilson briefly worked at Fisk University as the assistant to the president of Fisk before being named President of Norfolk State University in 1975.

During President Wilson's term at Norfolk, which spanned over three decades from 1975 until 1997, Norfolk State University's annual budget increased from $14 million to $86 million, enrollment increased from 6,700 students to 8,100 students, and the number of faculty and staff grew from 377 to 412, with a student-faculty ratio of twenty-two to one. The University also added fourteen new buildings and acquired fifty-one acres of land.

Upon his retirement in 1997, President Wilson was honored by Old Dominion University as one of their Strong Men and Women Excellence in Leadership series. He has been active in a number of boards and organizations, including the board of directors of Virginia National Bank, the lay advisory board of DePaul Hospital, the Virginia State Advanced Council on Vocational Education, and the board of directors of the Virginia Health, Welfare, and Recreation Planning Council. He is also a member of the Alpha Kappa Mu fraternity.

Mark Wilson is a Professor and Department Head for the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior in the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia and Co-Director of the Workplace Health Group. For over 22 years, he has been actively conducting research, teaching and consulting in the workplace health promotion arena. At the University of Georgia, Dr. Wilson co-founded the Workplace Health Group (WHG), a multi-disciplinary research group focused on workplace health issues. The WHG is one of the few academic research units in the country to focus exclusively on worksite health promotion and safety issues. Since its inception in 2000, the WHG has acquired $5 million in external grants or support. The WHG was one of the first in the country to propose expanding the horizon of worksite health promotion; the first in the country to develop and test a comprehensive model of organizational health; the first to examine the efficacy of organizational and environmental interventions to reduce obesity, encompassing both the physical and social environment; and one of the first to translate a clinical intervention to worksite practice. He has consulted with many organizations and companies on projects ranging from the evaluation of a cholesterol reduction program to development and evaluation of a healthy work organization intervention. His research interests include worksite health promotion, healthy work organizations, and evaluation of behavioral interventions. He has served on a variety of advisory panels and editorial boards at the national level including Associate Editor-in-Chief for the American Journal of Health Promotion. His current projects funded by NIH and CDC include the evaluation of an environmental obesity intervention, a physical activity intervention, and a diabetes prevention program. Dr. Wilson earned his doctorate from Indiana University in 1987 after completing his bachelor's and master's degrees at Eastern Illinois University, and Indiana State University, respectively.

Kelly Powell serves as the Director of U. S. Navy Sports and Fitness for all MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) bases around the world and Head of the MWR Mission Essential branch. His position establishes and implements sport and fitness policies, programs, and facilities at all U. S. Navy installations which includes both afloat and ashore sport and fitness programs. Prior to his current position, he served as MWR Director, Adak, Alaska from 1993 to1995, and MWR Director in Yokosuka, Japan from 1991 to1993. Kelly (or "Coach" to which he is often affectionately referred), is essentially charged with helping to make things better for all sailors and members of the Navy Team. He possesses a vast understanding of operational excellence. He is acknowledged for conceiving and executing unique strategies to make life in deployed environments better, while streamlining and enhancing program delivery and expanding program horizons. He is a passionate and strong patron advocate focused on understanding and meeting sailors' needs, identifying problems and resolving issues by rapid implementation of workable solutions. He strives to build collaborative relationships and works across functional boundaries to achieve shared goals based on mutual benefits. Colleagues regard him as an articulate, tactful and diplomatic communicator with experience to get various objectives accomplished. While completing his graduate studies at Indiana University, he served as the Intramural Sports Coordinator, in the IU Division of Recreational Sports from 1986 to 1991. Kelly completed his B.S. in Recreation from Indiana University in 1984, and his master's degree in Recreation in 1986.

Rin Seibert is recognized as a national leader in collegiate recreational sports, and has been at helm of recreational sport leadership at Valparaiso University for nearly three decades. She also holds titles as Assistant Director of Athletics, and adjunct instructor of physical education. Since her arrival to Valpo in August 1980, her visionary leadership has resulted in model programs respected by peers through the profession. She oversees many professional, graduate assistant and student staff, and is actively involved in cultivating and maintaining partnerships with the Department of Physical Education and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Prior to her tenure at Valparaiso, Seibert served as Assistant Director of Physical Recreation at Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin, from July 1979 to August 1980. From August 1978 to July 1979, she served as a Graduate Assistant for the Division of Recreational Sports, Indiana University Bloomington.

Seibert is active in many professional and community organizations including a 28 year affiliation with the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). Her NIRSA involvements have included memberships on the Standards, Aquatics, Basketball, Professional Development Committees; Past Chair of NIRSA Aquatic Committee; participation at the NIRSA School of Recreational Sports Management; attendance at the NIRSA Executive Institute; participation on the Region III Workshop Committee; the Indiana Recreational Sports Association (IRSA) State Workshop Host on three occasions; the IRSA State Workshop Committee Chair; the IRSA Scholarship Committee; Past President of IRSA; and many presentations at NIRSA, IRSA, Big Ten, state, and regional workshops. She has also served as an External Consultant at the University of San Francisco.

Dr. Russell Sinn has enjoyed a distinguished medical career after graduating from the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1984. Previously, he earned his bachelor's degree from the Department of Health and Safety in the School of HPER in 1977. Since 1987, he has maintained a private practice in anesthesiology in Indianapolis. Since 1989, he has been board certified through the American Board of Anesthesiology. His general and regional techniques involve General Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Cardio-Thoracic, and Vascular.

Sinn serves as Vice President of Southeast Anesthesiologists, Inc., and is a former Vice President/President of the Department of Anesthesia at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis. He is also a former Medical Advisor to the Indiana Society of Respiratory Therapists. His professional memberships include the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the International Anesthesia Research Society, and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. His hospital affiliations include St. Francis Hospital, Franciscan Surgery Center, Indiana Surgery Center South, South Emerson Surgery Center, Southeast Surgery Center, OrthoIndy Hospital, Columbus Regional Hospital, and the Columbus Surgery Center. In 2003-2004, Sinn was privileged to serve as a member of medical missions to Manna Mission Hospital in Ghana.

Helen Scheibner completed a bachelor's degree in education at IU and master's in public health from the University of Michigan before she began her professional career with the Indiana State Board of Health, where she spent 46 years. During that time, she also served in other professional and volunteer capacities, including roles as health and physical education representative to the Indiana State Department of Public Instruction; health education consultant to the Indiana State Board of Health; director of Local Health Services; and executive director of the Indiana Association of Public Health Physicians. She was also instrumental in the formation and incorporation of several professional organizations, including the Indiana Public Health Association. In 1972, she completed a doctorate in health and safety from Indiana University. She is the author of numerous articles and the recipient of several awards and honors.

John Ozmun is a professor and chair of the Department of Physical Education at Indiana State University where he has been a faculty member for fourteen years. He received his Master of Science degree from Indiana University in the area of adapted physical education. His doctoral areas of study were motor development and adapted physical education. Prior to his appointment at Indiana State University he was a faculty member at Portland State University and served in the role of associate director of the Center for Youth Development at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport.

Ozmun has presented and published extensively in the area of physical activity of young children with and without disabilities. He has numerous presentations at the national meetings of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Internationally he has presented at the International Pre-Olympic Scientific Congress, the World Congress of the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport & Dance, the Cooper Institute Conference Series, the International Conference on "The Young Child: Moving to Learn", and the World Congress & Exposition on Disabilities.

Ozmun's publication record includes articles in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Additionally, he is co-author of the text Understanding Motor Development with David Gallahue. He has authored or co-authored several chapters in texts such as Adapted Physical Education and Sport, Foundations of Exercise Science, and Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children.

Some of the honors Ozmun has received over the years include the 2003 Recognition Award from the Physical Fitness Council of AAHPERD, the 2000 Indiana State University Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award, the 1993-94 Young Professional Award of the Midwest District of AAHPERD, and the 1993 Young Professional Award from the Indiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Ozmun states that the educational experiences and relationships he developed while attending the School of HPER at Indiana University served as the primary basis for his professional opportunities and accomplishments. In addition, Ozmun considers it a true blessing to have such a supportive family, which includes his wife Ruth, and sons Chet, Gus, Johnny, and Ray.

Bob Synovitz began his teaching career in general science and physical education at Webster Groves School System in Webster Groves, Missouri. After completing the H.S.D. degree at Indiana University, he accepted a position as assistant professor of health and physical education at Eastern Kentucky University, followed by an assistant professor position in the department of physiology and health science at Ball State University.

It was during his time at Ball State that he renewed a friendship with fellow faculty member, Warren Shaller. Together, Synovitz and Shaller, along with colleague William Bock, co-founded Eta Sigma Gamma, a national health honorary society. Currently there are more than 100 chapters of Eta Sigma Gamma at universities throughout the United States.

In 1968, Bob moved to Macomb, Illinois where he became professor and chairperson of the department of health sciences at Western Illinois University. During his 21 years there, he built programs in school and community health, eventually earning recognition as one of the finest programs in the nation.

Following his retirement from Western Illinois University in 1989, Bob moved to Kent, Ohio where he worked as a project coordinator for an AIDS/HIV infection education research grant for the ASHA. Upon completion of the grant, he became director of membership services, and later, conference coordinator. In 1992, Bob returned to Illinois, still working for the ASHA as conference coordinator. While there, he accepted the responsibility of regional coordinator for the Illinois Post Secondary HIV/AIDS Prevention Project and became external coordinator for the Illinois School Content Standards Project for the Illinois State Board of Education. After moving to Louisiana in 1996, Bob continued as conference coordinator for the ASHA until 2001 when he fully retired from professional responsibilities.

Bob has been active in numerous organizations, but devoted most of his time to the American School Health Association (ASHA), Eta Sigma Gamma and the Illinois School Health Association. He has held various offices in each of these organizations, eventually serving as the national president of the ASHA. He remains a life member of Eta Sigma Gamma.

Peter Werner has more than 35 years' experience as a student and teacher of physical education for children. For two years he taught elementary school physical education (K-6) in Indianapolis, Indiana. Then, he earned his M.S. and P.E.D. degrees in physical education from Indiana University in 1967 and 1971, respectively. Since that time he has taught at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina. In addition to teaching content courses in educational games, dance and gymnastics, he also teaches elementary physical education methods courses at the University of South Carolina. He also takes pride in regularly teaching elementary physical education in the public schools.

For two years Peter chaired the Southern District of the Council on Physical Education for Children (COPEC), and he was the publications coordinator for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) for 3 years.

He has written more than 50 articles and 6 books, and is the current editor of Teaching Elementary Physical Education (TEPE). Peter was selected as the 1986 South Carolina Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance College Teacher of the Year and was the recipient of the 1993 University of South Carolina Michael J. Mungo Teaching Award. In 1996 he was honored as an Outstanding Alumni of the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, and in 2001 he was selected as the Ada B. Thomas Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty Advisor at the University of South Carolina. He was also chosen to receive the Margie Hanson Service Award (COPEC/AAHPERD) in 2002. In 2003 he received the Leonard Maiden Service Award and was chosen to be the director of undergraduate programs at the University of South Carolina.

Peter is a member of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, NASPE, and COPEC.