Student Spotlight

KHE Graduate Students Dominic Morais (l) and Ben Pollack (r)

Kinesiology and Health Education graduate students Dominic Morais and Ben Pollack have much in common. For one thing, they have both been awarded a William C. Powers Graduate Fellowship, a prestigious honor based on their past academic achievements and promise. For another, they came by their interest in the study of the history of strength training and physical culture through their background in athletics and, particularly, sport training. Finally, they were both drawn to the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Sport Studies and their advisor, Jan Todd, in large part because of the Stark Center’s unique archives related to sport and physical culture.

Dominic is now entering his second year of study toward his PhD at the Stark Center, and he has already distinguished himself by being chosen as the recipient of the 2012 North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Graduate Student Essay Prize. This award included having his expenses covered to the annual NASSH Conference; presenting his paper, “Branding Iron: An Examination of Eugen Sandow’s Utilization of ‘Modern’ Marketing,” in a special session at the conference; and having his paper published in the Journal of Sport History.

Dominic grew up in Dayton, Texas, and then left for Tennessee where he earned his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Vanderbilt and played varsity football. While at Vanderbilt he developed an interest in the conditioning techniques used in that sport, and so he went on to Eastern Illinois University where he took a Masters’ degree in Kinesiology, worked as a graduate assistant for Football, became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach. Dominic’s plans to teach at the university level after graduation.

Ben finished high school in Maryland and then took an undergraduate degree in Finance and Information Technology at the University of Virginia in 2009. He also competed for the university’s Powerlifting team and coached a Special Olympics team in that sport. After graduation he worked as an analyst for Google in California, began competing in Strongman competitions, and continued his independent interests in strength training. Besides following Dominic as a Powers Fellow, Ben also intends to pursue an Interdisciplinary Sport Studies Ph.D. and a career as a professor.