Next time you're near The Nittany Lion Inn, keep an eye out for a new blue and white landmark. On Thursday, Aug. 27, Penn State’s newest historical marker was unveiled next to the Biomechanics Teaching Lab, located between the Inn and the Nittany Parking Deck.
The marker celebrates “the pivotal role Penn State has played in shaping the discipline of biomechanics,” said Nan Crouter, Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz dean of the College of Health and Human Development. The Department of Kinesiology, housed within the college, offers a graduate-level biomechanics emphasis and the Biomechanics Teaching Lab, where research is performed, is renowned.
The marker recognizes the three people who established and enhanced the Biomechanics Lab at Penn State: Richard Nelson, professor emeritus of exercise and sports science at Penn State, Chauncey Morehouse, professor emeritus of physical education at Penn State, and Peter Cavanagh, distinguished professor emeritus of locomotion studies at Penn State and professor and endowed chair in women's sports medicine and lifetime fitness at the University of Washington.
All three attended the event; it was Nelson who unveiled the marker. The event was hosted by the Department of Kinesiology and coincided with the American Society of Biomechanics meeting, which took place on campus from Aug. 26 to 29.
Also attending the event was Robert Gregor, professor emeritus at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who was one of the first graduates of the Biomechanics emphasis at Penn State. When he was at Penn State, Gregor’s doctoral committee consisted of, among other people, the three men mentioned on the marker: Nelson, Morehouse and Cavanagh.
“This is a special time not just for the history of Penn State, but also for the field of biomechanics,” said Gregor.
Other attendees included Penn State President Graham Spanier, several kinesiology faculty members and many alumni.
“The markers commemorate events and locations of broad importance to the intellectual development and heritage of Penn State as one of America's leading public universities,” said Spanier in his remarks. “The people, stories and events depicted on the markers are remarkable.”
This was the first time Spanier attended the unveiling of a historical marker, and he’s only the second Penn State president to attend such an event, after Bryce Jordan.
This is the 72nd historical marker in Penn State’s historical marker series, which spans multiple campuses. To learn more about the markers, visit http://www.psu.edu/ur/about/markers/markers.html online.
To see photos of the dedication ceremony, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/2132 online.
The following appears on the new historical marker:
AMONG THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD, PENN STATE'S BIOMECHANICS LAB WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1967, DIRECTED BY RICHARD NELSON. HE AND CHAUNCEY MOREHOUSE WERE JOINED IN 1972 BY ANOTHER FACULTY MEMBER, PETER CAVANAGH. THEY AND THEIR STUDENTS DID GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH ON THE BIOMECHANICS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE APPLIED TO PROBLEMS IN MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH, SPORT, EXERCISE, INJURY AND REHABILITATION. THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF BIOMECHANICS WAS FOUNDED HERE IN 1973.