Tony A. Mobley International Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Jylana Sheats is an applied behavioral scientist who serves as associate director of the Science & Society program at the Aspen Institute. She earned her M.P.H. from SPH-B, Ph.D. from Tulane University, and completed postdoctoral training in behavioral medicine at Stanford School of Medicine with a focus on designing digital health behavior change interventions for underserved populations.

Her interests include digital and non-digital health behavior change interventions—and using digital citizen-science methodologies to contextualize elements of the built environment in the U.S. and internationally. She has led citizen-science activities resulting in increased funding for underserved communities, modification of bus routes to ensure affordable housing and food access for the elderly, and the installation of traffic-calming devices to reduce the risk of older adults being harmed in urban environments.

Committed to educating the next generation of public health and healthcare leaders, Dr. Sheats maintains faculty appointments at the University of California, Berkeley and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She is also an expert mentor for the Boston University College of Communication’s SciCommers, a group dedicated to engaging the public through better science communication. She is the recipient of several Johnson & Johnson “Inspire” Awards, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Building Innovative Research Careers in Women’s Health” career development award, and recognition as an NIH Obesity and Health Disparities Programs to Increase Diversity Among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research (PRIDE) scholar.

Dr. Jorming Goh graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2004 with a BS in Kinesiology, where he majored in exercise science and minored in biology. He also holds a MS in exercise science from Washington State University Spokane (2006) and a PhD in exercise and cancer biology from the University of Washington, Seattle (2012).

At present, Jorming is a Research Assistant Professor with the Department of Physiology and Head of Clinical Sciences (Integrative Physiology) with the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Program at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). He also holds a joint appointment with the National University Health System (NUHS) Centre for Healthy Longevity.

Since his high school days, Jorming has always been fascinated with exercise and fitness, where he represented his school in tennis at the national level. As an undergraduate student at Indiana University Bloomington, Jorming had very nurturing mentors in faculty members and staff, who encouraged him to explore and develop his interests in kinesiology, sports and recreation. Richard Mull, former Director of the IU Tennis Center, was his mentor for his entire undergraduate career, while Ginger Lawrence, former undergraduate advisor for the Department of Kinesiology, was his academic advisor for all four undergraduate years. Both played a significant role in giving him opportunities for leadership development and advice for career development. Attending the HPER P212 introductory class in exercise science helmed by the late Dr. Phil Henson, and later writing a final semester report on exercise science and fitness, gave Jorming the early spark to pursue exercise physiology as a career.

Fortuitously, as his career developed, Jorming was able to combine his passion in exercise with a research career to investigate the beneficial role of exercise in health, disease, and aging. He has worked with pre-clinical mouse models to investigate the effects of exercise on cancer and inflammation, and on healthy human volunteers, he has explored the impact of combined aerobic and resistance exercise on immune biomarkers. At the NUHS Centre for Healthy Longevity, Jorming is leading a clinical research team, where he continues to combine his passion in exercise and investigating how it can contribute to improved healthspan during aging.

Dr. Yang is a Principal Investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. She is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Epidemiology in The Ohio State University College of Public Health. Dr. Yang grew up in China and was admitted as an international MPH student in Applied Health Science at Indiana University Bloomington and graduated in 1999. She continued her PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education, with a minor in Biostatistics, at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dr. Yang's primary research interest is injury prevention with an emphasis on injuries to children and adolescents. Her current research, primarily funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), focuses on the trajectory of recovery from sports-related mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among children as well as parental engagement in teen driving safety. Dr. Yang’s research interests address some of the leading causes of death and disability among children in the US and worldwide. Dr. Yang has a national and international reputation as a consummate researcher and is recognized for her leadership in the field of injury prevention. Currently, Dr. Yang is directing three active R01 studies funded by NIH including two randomized controlled trials that test the effectiveness, implementation and cost-effectiveness of parent-focused driving safety programs and one longitudinal observational study that examines driving performance of teens after mild traumatic brain injury. From 2010 to 2015, she was appointed to the Major League Baseball Injury Research Committee, which provides guidance in injury research among professional baseball players. In 2013, she was the recipient of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section "Excellence in Science Award."

Dr. Yang lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Dr. Kele Ding who is also an IU alum.

Dr. Hsieh is a full professor at National Taiwan Normal University. He is the founder and president of the Asia Association for Experiential Education. He and his students have committed themselves to experiential education, outdoor education, and adventure therapy to successfully establish his academic discipline in Asia with the goal of global recognition for excellence.

Dr. Hsieh has been instrumental in building schools across Asia. In 2007, he and his students built a school at Chitwan, Nepal. In 2012, he founded the Chinese Rock Leadership Association, a non-profit organization, and served as the founding president. From 2012 to 2014, he built another elementary school and helped build a hospital in Nepal. In 2015, he established two educational centers for low-income youth in India. In 2016, he built a school in the Golden Triangle area in Northern Thailand.

His passion, contributions, and determination have influenced not only China, but communities across Asia. For his work, he was awarded the Michael Stratton Practitioner's Award by the Association for Experiential Education in 2016 and the Distinguished Teacher Award by the Taiwan Ministry of Education in 2018. He later went on to establish the Center for Experiential Education and leadership to equip youth leaders in Asia at National Taiwan Normal University.

Dr. Bilesha Perera is currently working in the fields of aging, substance use and sexual health. His research includes collaboration with scholars at Duke University, Indiana University, and Durham University in the UK. Dr. Perera has published nearly 60 research papers and book chapters, and was trained in the fields of Medical Education and Health Services Research throughout the UK, Thailand, and India. He also spent time at Konstanz University, Germany training in Psychotraumatology.

Dr. Perera earned his basic degree in Physical Sciences at University of Colombo in 1984, and worked as a research assistant at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Colombo for nearly 5 years. After being awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship in 1993, Dr. Perera, completed his MSc. in Health Promotion at the University of London, UK. He later joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ruhuna, Galle, in Sri Lanka where he served as a lecturer in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Health Promotion. In 2005, Dr. Perera completed his Ph.D. at Indiana University Bloomington. Upon returning to Sri Lanka, he was promoted to full professor at the University of Ruhuna, Galle. Dr. Perera continued his relationship with Indiana University Bloomington and returned as a visiting scholar in 2007.

Throughout his career, Dr. Perera has been awarded numerous research grants from organizations that include: UNFPA, WHO, and the NIH. He is also the recipient of the 2012 Nobuo Maeda International Research Award from the American Public Health Association, a Presidential Award for Research Publication, and the 2017 National Research Council Merit Award. Dr. Perera resides in Sri Lanka with his wife and daughter.

Digby Whyte, M.S. '88, Re.Dir. '90, Re.D. '92 has been a leader in parks, recreation, and public lands management since he graduated from IU and returned to New Zealand and Australia. Most recently, he served as the Director of Park Operations for the Australian Northern Territory Government Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport. In this role, he had responsibility for the Northern Territory's 11.5 million acres of national parks and reserves with a significant impact on parks, recreation, wildlife, lands, and tourism.

He served four terms on the boards of New Zealand's and Australia's peak park and recreation organizations, and, starting in 2013, Dr. Whyte helped to reform an international organization into the World Urban Parks; now active in over 70 countries with large membership in Europe and Asia. He serves as CEO of this group and has been instrumental in pivoting the group toward public health and conversation for urban populations.

Dr. Whyte has been integral in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington implementing an international certification program for park professionals that includes competency requirements in public health. His work is facilitated by the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies. In fall 2015, the World Park Academy rolled out international webinar training and national certification partnerships jointly led by Dr. Whyte and the Eppley Institute.

Without Dr. Whyte's long standing contributions to the profession and world, the development of park professionals would be minimal internationally.

Robin Milhausen is a respected sexuality researcher, an award-winning professor, and a prominent sexuality educator in the popular media. Dr. Milhausen completed her Ph.D. in Applied Health Science from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. While a doctoral student at Indiana University she received numerous awards including the John H. Edwards Fellowship, the J. Keogh Rash Graduate Student Scholarship, the Office of Women's Affairs Travel Grant, and the William L. Yarber Sexual Health Fellowship.

Currently, Dr. Milhausen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. Her research interests include gender and sexuality, sexual problems and the experience of sexual pleasure, sexual and relationship satisfaction in couples, and condom use errors and problems. She was recently acknowledged for her passionate and innovative teaching style with three University teaching awards.

Dr. Milhausen is also a research fellow at the IU Rural Center for AIDS/ STD Prevention and a senior research fellow at The Kinsey Institute. She is a member of The Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team that has researched condom use errors and problems.

She is also an active sex educator in the media. While a doctoral student at IUB, she hosted a national nightly television show called Sex, Toys, and Chocolate, a talk show which addressed current issues in sexuality. Since that time, Dr. Milhausen has been a guest on Slice's The Mom Show, CBC's Steven and Chris, and Oxygen's Talk Sex with Sue Johanson, and she has served as the relationship expert on the Slice Network's hit shows, Re-Vamped and Three Takes.

Talal Hashim graduated from Indiana University in 1988 with his Doctorate in Health & Safety from the School of Public Health-Bloomington. An accomplished educational leader, Dr. Hashim has held multiple roles at the King Saud University in Saudi Arabia including Coordinator of Health Services Administration Program, Director of the Center for Research and Development, Chairman of the Department of Community Health Sciences, including his current roles as Professor of Public Health Safety and Education. He has been instrumental in the evaluation and improvement of curriculum for the Community Health Sciences Program in the College of Allied Medical Sciences at King Saud University. He has developed courses on topics ranging from injury control and safety studies to the management of health education.

Dr. Hashim's research interests include examining knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs related to various health topics some of which include cancer, smoking, heart disease, and HIV/AIDS. He work has been published in various journals including the Saudi Medical Journal, Journal of Family and Community Medicine, and the New Egyptian Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Hashim is involved in multiple professional organizations as a member of the Research and Health Organization Council, Department of Community Health Sciences Research Board, and Health Institutes of Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Trevor Garrett's career began with a Diploma of Physical Education from the University of Otago in New Zealand and after working as a physical education teacher and school housemaster, he enrolled at Indiana University and received his master's of science in recreation in 1976. From 1976-1991, Mr. Garrett worked in the New Zealand government's Department of Internal Affairs, including responsibilities as the Advisory Officer in Recreation Planning, the Senior Administration Officer in the Royal Visit Office, and in 1981 as the Executive Officer for Recreation and Sport. His other appointments included Chief Executive Officer for Recreation and Community Development, Director of Lottery Services, Director of Gaming, Racing, and Censorship, and Group Manager for Regulatory and Lottery Services.

In addition to his roles with the New Zealand government, Mr. Garrett established both the Charities Commission and the Casino Control Authority. He currently serves as a member of a United Nations Counter Terrorism expert working group, which convenes country meetings in different world regions to examine methods for preventing the financing of terrorism.

Some of Mr. Garrett's other professional highlights include being named Patron of Physical Education New Zealand in 2011 and being inducted into the Wall of Fame at the School of Physical Education, University of Otago in 2010. Mr. Garrett also served as the National President of the New Zealand Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation from 1979 to 1983, and 1985 to 1986.

Dr. Chin-hsung Kao serves as President of National Taiwan Sport University (NTSU), a post he has held since August 2010. President Kao earned his PhD in 1993, in the then-titled Department of Recreation and Park Administration. This followed an MBA that he earned from the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan in 1986, and a BBA from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan in 1984.

Prior to his executive leadership at NTSU, he served as President for the Executive Committee of the Asian Association for Sport Management (AASM). He has served as Honorary President on the Board of Directors for the Taiwan Society on Sport Management since 2008. Dr. Kao was also Chief Editor at the Asian Sport Management Review (ASMR) from 2006 to 2008. President Kao's research publications and scholarly activities are extensive, and reflect themes consistent with IU's treasured past in recreation, physical education, and sport, and also in disciplines grounded in public health. He has presented and spoken at numerous international conferences, and has served as an exchange scholar at Beijing Sport University in 2000, 2007, and 2010, at Macau University in 2001, and at Macau University of Science and Technology in 2006.

President Kao has represented among the best that our School's alumni have to offer through his many accomplishments, making him an excellent recipient of the Mobley International Distinguished Alumni Award.

Born in Rome, Italy in 1958, Laura Capranica formally entered the master's program in Physical Education at the School of HPER under Fulbright Scholarship and in 1992 was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar. Full Professor of Sport Sciences at the University of Rome Foro Italico, she acts as President of the Master's Degree on Sport Coaching and as Coordinator of the PhD program on "Sport, Exercise and Ergonomics". She is also a Member of the Inter-University Board at the University of Catanzaro and Treasurer of the Italian Professors of Sport Sciences. As an Erasmus Visiting Professor she lectures at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Democritus University of Thrace, Komatini, Greece; Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden, and University of Coimbra, Portugal. She is also the Coordinator of European Intensive Program for PhD students on "Sport Performance: A Lifetime Challenge" (2009-2011).

Laura Capranica was a Founding Member and the Secretary of the European Research Group for the Elderly and Physical Activity (1992-1997); the Italian coordinator of the European Programs on "Gender Equity in the Mediterranean Countries" (2004-2007) and on "Women's International Leadership Development" (2010); the Coordinator of the European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop "The Future of Research in Sport Participation in the Lifespan" (2011); and a Board Member of the European Network "European Student as Athlete" (2009-2011). Capranica's research interests regard the identification of determinants (example: social, psychological, biological, organizational, and technical) for sport practice and performance in the lifespan; the development of the knowledge base, tools and resources needed to understand the effects of sport and exercise on human health; and the enhancement of bilateral translational links between laboratory and field evaluations. She has published more than 50 manuscripts in scientific journals, proceedings and books, and delivered over 120 lectures and communications in international conferences and meetings. She also acts as a reviewer for several international journals in the area of sport.

Frank Pyke received a bachelor's and master's degree in Physical Education from the University of Western Australia in 1962 and 1967. He chose to continue his studies at Indiana University where he received a PhD in Exercise Physiology and Human Performance from the Department of Kinesiology in 1970.

Between 1967 and 1972 he taught at Illinois State University in the United States and Dalhousie University in Canada, and then at the Universities of Western Australia, Canberra and Wollongong before being appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland, where he still holds an Adjunct Professorship. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia.

Dr. Pyke became the inaugural Executive Director of the Victorian Institute of Sport in 1990 and held the position until his retirement in 2006. During this time the Institute provided coaching and support services and the daily training environment for many athletes who became Olympic, Paralympic and World champions. He also pioneered an athlete career and education program which was adopted nationally and by several overseas countries. This initiative was reflected in the Institute's motto "Success in Sport and Life".

Throughout his career, Dr. Pyke has also served on and chaired a wide range of boards and committees associated with sporting organizations, professional associations and universities.

He has written and edited ten books on scientific training, coach education and elite athlete development, has published many articles in scientific journals and magazines and is an experienced and well-known international presenter.

He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, Life Membership of the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation in 2002 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2003.

János Váczi serves as a mayoral chief of staff in one of Budapest, Hungary's largest municipal districts. His responsibilities are varied, but they include serving as a consultant and advisor to the president of the Tourism and Sports Committee of the Hungarian Parliament. Since 2006, Váczi has supervised a diversity of people associated with sports in Hungary according to the formal national sports strategy of the Fidesz political party. He continues to have regular media appearances and is involved in publications as a sports economist. He was a founding member of the National Sports Society.

Váczi attended the Hungarian University of Physical Education, where he graduated with a BsC in 1992. In 1993, he traveled to the United States and attended Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, and earned a master's degree in Sports Administration. Following a short stay in Hungary, he returned to the United States and to Indiana University where he served as a Research Associate in the summer of 1996. In 1996, he formally entered the graduate program in Kinesiology and completed a second master's degree in Sports Management and Marketing. Upon his return to Hungary, he was hired by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and worked as chief of staff and later as director of communications. In 2001, he became the general manager of the Hungarian Sports Marketing Ltd. which was a government owned company to improve and manage the funding of sports federations and competitive sports in Hungary. The company established the Team Hungary project with selected Olympic federations and sponsors which, during his tenure with the company, became the single biggest fundraiser project in Hungarian competitive sports. During this time, Váczi continued to maintain his status as senior advisor to the Minister of Youth and Sports. After the change of government in 2003, Váczi joined the Central European Group of Pepsi Americas where he worked as a regional marketing manager responsible for four countries. His job included reintroducing Gatorade sports drink to these four markets and to develop a football marketing platform for the Hungarian market. Following the elections in 2006, he formally became mayoral chief of staff, the position he still holds. Since that year, Váczi has been enrolled in the sport management doctoral program of Semmelweis University of Budapest. He has completed his credit requirements and is currently working on his last mandatory international publication and the dissertation, which deals with the involvement of lottery funds in government sports financing.

Dr. Chi-Huang "Mike" Huang, serves as Professor at the Institute of Athletic Training and Health Science and Director of the Institute of Coaching Science at National Taiwan Sport University. He joined the NTSU (previously known as National College of Physical Education and Sports) faculty in 1994, and his primary teaching responsibilities are in the athletic training curriculum program and clinical applications to almost all competitive athletes in Taiwan. His scholarly interests include neuromuscular performance due to injury, and strength and conditioning. Prior to arriving to NTSU, he taught at San Jose State University in the graduate athletic training curriculum program, and as a full time athletic trainer for Indiana University Athletic Department. Other professional experiences have included serving as the chair for the Education Committee for World Federation of Athletic Training & Therapy.

Dr. Huang has published more than 40 manuscripts in professional journals, proceedings and books. He has made approximately 100 professional presentations, including eight international presentations in the United States, Japan, Korea, China, and Hong Kong. Besides academic life, Dr. Huang has also been very active in public service. He was invited to work as the deputy minister of sports in Taiwan from 2004 to 2007. His main responsibilities included supervising three major divisions within the sports council, competitive athletics, international affairs and sports facilities. He was also named the Director of the Taiwan National Olympic training Center. Taiwan won its first Olympic gold medals in 2004, ending Taiwan's 72-year gold medal drought in the Olympic Games. In addition, Mike has been instrumental to the athletic training profession in Taiwan. He started the game coverages by athletic trainers with his students and installed full time athletic trainers to almost all national teams. He is also active in tennis and golf.

Dr. Huang earned his master's degree in athletic training and doctorate in administration, curriculum and instruction from Indiana University in 1989 and 1993 respectively. Previously, he earned his first master's degree in athletic administration from Springfield College in 1987, Massachusetts and his bachelor's degree at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan in 1984.

A true ambassador for international relations, Mr. Zhiwei Pan has served in a variety of sport and Olympic administrative capacities in his native China. He is considered to be a true giant among leaders of the Chinese Olympic movement. Since 2002, Mr. Pan has served as the Division Chief of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. From 1999 to 2002, he served as Deputy Division Chief. In these capacities, he has been extensively involved in Beijing's bid and preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.

In his present Division Chief role, he is responsible for many duties which include leadership involving formulation of cooperative agreements, computer-based communication networks, speech translations and presentations, and serving as a chief contact with the International Paralympic Games. He represents BOCOG at many major world sporting events including the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Commonwealth Games in Manchester (UK), Asian Games in Seoul, Korea, and the Olympic/Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. He attends numerous conferences and sporting events sponsored and organized by relevant international federations. He is also a speaker at important international meetings including the Olympic Truce Symposium and International Olympic Education.

During the Olympic bid process, Pan was responsible for the supervision of composing Beijing's candidature books to the International Olympic Committee, a file with a total of some 300,000 words, covering every aspect of the metropolitan and sport infrastructure. He reported directly to the Secretary General of the Bid Committee, and worked with experts from the USA, England and Australia to coordinate and manage activities. He acted as the primary contact between the Beijing Bid Committee and the IOC for state government relations. He visited more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa, North America, Latin America and Europe with state leaders, sport delegations, and bid missions to participate in the meetings and events hosted by IOC, and other organizations.

Prior to his Olympic Committee involvements, Pan worked in the Office of International Programs at Beijing Sport University from 1987 to 1994. During the mid-1990's, Pan completed his master's degree in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies at Indiana University where he also served as a Visiting Scholar. He is author or contributor to several publications, and is active in the sport of table tennis.

Scholar. Coach. Athlete. Teacher. Dr. Nikos Stavropoulos has served in multiple roles throughout his distinguished professional career, which included time spent at Indiana University in the mid-1990's when he completed his master's degree in kinesiology. His lifetime, whether it has been in the participatory role as an athlete, or in the practitioner role as a coach or teacher, is marked by his dedication and expertise in the areas of kinesiology, basketball coaching and instruction, and sport sciences.

As a young person, Dr. Stavropoulos began his competitive basketball career in the basketball club of Larissa. He later played with the Greek National Junior Men's basketball team, and the Greek National Army Men's basketball team. From 1979 to 1988, he was a member of the Greek National Team. He continued to play professionally until 1993. Throughout his playing career, he received many honors; in 1987 he was a gold medal recipient in the European Championship in Athens, and in 1991, he was a member of the first place team in the European Cup in Geneva Switzerland. A particular highlight of his career was earning the distinction of scoring the first "three point shot" in Greek basketball history (1985). Dr. Stavropoulos has also been an active coach -- a role that began simultaneously during his earlier playing days. From 1997 to 1999, he served as associate head coach of the Greek Junior Men's basketball team, and became head coach in 2000. He served as head coach until 2005. During his head coaching career, his teams earned silver and bronze medals in various European and world competitions.

In addition to his roles in the competitive arena, Dr. Stavropoulos has been active in a variety of teaching, administrative, and academic involvements. These have included the roles of Supervisor of Special Athletic Programs for the Youth Greek Basketball Federation, Director of the Salonika Basketball Camp, and teaching positions in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has also served as a high school physical education teacher. In 2002, he completed his PhD at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He had earlier completed his bachelor's degree from the same institution. He is the author of numerous publications, and is also active in the clinic circuit.

Vorasak Pienchob is one of the most well-known authorities in physical education and sport science in Thailand. His leadership at Chulalongkorn University led to the development of a program to train physical education teachers, the first department of its kind in the country. Today, up to 400 students are enrolled in the unit, now a School of Sport Science, each year. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Pienchob received a diploma from the College of Physical Education in Bangkok and earned four degrees from Indiana University: bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in physical education, and a master's degree in education. Pienchob founded the Thai Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, in which he served as general secretary and president. He also founded the Committee of Sport Psychology of Thailand. Since retiring from Chulalongkorn University 16 years ago, Pienchob has remained active as a lecturer, speaker, curriculum consultant, and an overall resource to current administrators and faculty at the school. He has received the President's Award and Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion from IU and an honorary doctorate from Chulalongkorn University, and he has recently helped form Thailand's Indiana University Alumni Association.

Dr. Umit Kesim, born in Istanbul, Turkey, graduated from Elkhart High School, Indiana. He received his bachelor's (1968) and master's (1971) degrees from Indiana University School of HPER. After serving many years as an academician and sports administrator in both public and private institutions and universities, he received his PhD degree at the age of 59, from School of PE & Sports, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Kesim played basketball and tennis at Elkhart High School. While at IU he was captain of both IU soccer and volleyball teams. In 1966, he was selected to the First Team All American in Soccer , and in 1967 to the All-Midwest Volleyball Team. During the period of 1968-1971, he coached the IU Volleyball Team and served as an assistant Soccer Coach for Jerry Yeagley.

After returning to Turkey in 1971, Kesim served in different sports institutions and universities, including the Ministry of Youth and Sports. His titles in these institutions were Athletic Director of Hacettepe University, Ankara; Chairperson of PE, Sports and Recreation Department of Middle East Technical University; Turkish representative to the Council of Europe Sports Research Committee; Member of the Olympic Academic Commission of the Turkish Olympic Committee; Sports Director of ENKA and Galatasaray Sports Clubs, and Dean of Students of Koc University, Istanbul. He is currently teaching at the School of PE & Sports at Marmara University, Istanbul, where he serves as an executive board member of the Athletic Department of the University.

Kesim's teaching experiences includes various courses in Sport Science, Physical Education, Recreation and Sports Management, at both undergraduate and graduate levels (1971-2004).

His professional memberships include ICHPER – SD, Turkish Sports Sciences Association (Founding Member and Current Vice-President), Turkish Physical Education Association, Executive Board Member of the Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sports, Founding Executive Board Member of the Turkish University Sports and Sports For All Federations, Executive Board Member of the Turkish Wrestling and Track and Field Federations.

Kesim has been active in the IU Alumni Association of Turkey and currently is serving as the President of the Turkish Korfball Federation. Among his recent ongoing projects are the Children's Correction Center "Rehabilitation Through Sports", which he initiated, and the Turkish Olympic Committee "Sports Culture and Olympic Education" project for elementary education.

He is the editor of various sport science books and articles. Dr. Kesim's biggest ideal is to see his students and young colleagues advance nationally and globally in the academic fields of sports sciences.

Dr. Tepwanee Homsanit received her bachelor's and master's degrees in physical education from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. She then came to Indiana University in 1977 to study for a second master's degree, followed by the Doctorate in Health & Safety.

Tepwanee's teaching experiences have included various courses in physical education, health education, safety education, recreation, and sports science, at both undergraduate and graduate levels for the department of physical education, faculty of education, and School of Sports Science at Chulalongkorn University (1966-2003). She is currently an associate professor in the School of Sports Science at Chulalongkorn.

Her professional memberships include the Sport Psychology Association, the Sport Medicine Association, the Sport Science Association, and the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation association, all of Thailand. She has served two terms as secretary general to the Health Education Association of Thailand, and is presently in her second term as president of this organization. She has been active in the IU Alumni Association of Thailand, and has served as both vice secretary and secretary. She is currently the president of the Thailand Hockey Association.

Tepwanee has also served in a variety of positions at Chulalongkorn University, including Associate Dean of Student Affairs, chairperson of the committee for the undergraduate program in health education, and as a member of the committee on curriculum and instruction for the faculty of education.

With many textbooks, articles, and other publications to her credit, as well as many highly regarded research projects, Dr. Tepwanee Homsanit has achieved at the highest levels of her career, and is an outstanding international alumna.