Kretchmar given President's Award for academic integration

R. Scott Kretchmar, professor of exercise and sport science in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development, has been awarded the 2010 President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Integration.

The award is given to a full-time faculty member who has exhibited extraordinary achievement in the integration of teaching, research or creative accomplishment, and service.

Kretchmar came to Penn State in 1984 as the first chair of what was then the Department of Physical Education (now Kinesiology). He is a fellow in the Academy of Kinesiology and has been recognized with six top research awards by five independent organizations, including being the only two-time winner of the Warren P. Fraleigh Distinguished Scholar award from the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport.

According to one nominator, respect for Kretchmar as a “basic, cross-disciplinary and applied scholar” has led to numerous leadership responsibilities, including chairing the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education, the Task Force on Undergraduate Education and the University Faculty Senate. He has chaired the Joint Group of Big Ten athletic directors, senior women associates and faculty representatives, as well as the board that runs the NCAA Scholarly Colloquium, and is the founding editor of its Journal of Intercollegiate Sport.

Kretchmar, who consistently receives high marks from his students, is known for the unique structure of his classes and has exported his methods to other instructors through summer workshops and colloquia. "As a teacher, a staunch supporter of undergraduate education, a doctoral advisor and a campus-wide proponent of student-active learning," one nominator said, "Scott is a teacher and proponent of learning without equal."

Working with the Olympic movement, Kretchmar delivered the keynote address at the Olympic Congress prior to the 2004 games. He has served as a lecturer at the Olympic Academy in Greece and worked with several doctoral students from around the world on their philosophical research related to sport and sport ethics.

Kretchmar also received the 2010 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award.

Last Updated April 5, 2010

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