McCullagh elected president of the American Kinesiology Association

• October 7, 2013 4:00am

Penny McCullagh, professor and chair of Cal State East Bay’s Department of Kinesiology, has been elected president of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA).

“The association promotes and enhances kinesiology as a unified field of study and advances its many applications,” McCullagh said. “AKA does this by advocating for kinesiology at national and international levels as well as by supporting its member departments with resource materials and leadership and educational opportunities.”

McCullagh will assume leadership of AKA in January. One of her first acts as president will be to welcome participants to the organization’s 2014 workshop to be held in San Jose. The event’s theme for 2014 is “The Future of Teaching and Learning in an Online World”.  The opening speaker will be Gerard Hanley, executive director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) and senior director for Academic Technology Services for the California State University system.

McCullagh came to CSUEB in 1999 as professor and department chair. She is well regarded as a scholar in the psychology of physical activity and has an extensive publication and presentation record. She was honored as an active fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology in 2001, and is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Research Consortium. She has written for nearly 50 publications, and made 100 research presentations as well as being invited as a national and international speaker.  

She has held numerous leadership positions in academic societies over her 37-year academic career.  Previously she has served as president of the North American Society for the Psychology Sport and Physical Activity, the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, and the American Psychological Association Division 47.

BZ