American Kinesiology Association Chooses Two University of Texas at Austin Students for National Scholar Award - June 21st, 2010

University of Texas at Austin kinesiology graduates Casey Alexis Lee and Erin Elizabeth Dolan were selected in May by the Board of Directors of the American Kinesiology Association (AKA) to be recipients of the 2010 AKA National Scholar Award. The award is a national honor and students are selected based on academic excellence and their record of leadership.

Awardees are recommended by their respective departments, and Lee and Dolan were nominated by Dr. B. Christine Green, an associate professor and undergraduate faculty advisor in the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.  Nominees for the awards must be seniors who are expected to graduate in the current calendar year and have completed at least 20 semester hours in departmental courses. They must have demonstrated an exceptional interest in the field of kinesiology and maintained an overall GPA of at least 3.50, as well as be in the top 20% of their class at the end of the semester prior to their nomination.

Casey Lee was a health promotion and fitness major who graduated in May with highest honors and a cumulative grade point average of 4.0. Her exceptional academic performance earned her membership in honor societies such as Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Kappa Phi. Lee was awarded the Ethel Sykes Washington Scholarship to recognize her academic, leadership and service accomplishments, and she was an intern for Cooper Corporate Solutions, a division of Cooper Aerobics.  During the spring semester, she also interned at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sport, which is located at The University of Texas at Austin and where she organized and promoted the preventative medicine research materials in the Center’s archives.  The Stark Center contains the largest research library in the world in the areas of health and exercise.

Erin Dolan, who also was a May graduate, was a health promotion and fitness major with a cumulative grade point average of 3.94. Dolan was awarded University Honors every semester while at The University of Texas at Austin and received an unrestricted Endowed Presidential Scholarship in the fall of 2009. Dolan worked as a volunteer with UT Athletics and interned with the Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, where she assisted with the I-CAN program. During the spring semester, Dolan taught cycling classes for the university’s recreational sport program while interning at two training sites. She also assisted clients with their physical therapy at Advanced Rehabilitation, and trained and tested athletes at an Austin-area High Intensity Training Center.

The AKA is a professional organization of more than 110 college and university departments that has as its goal the unification and support of kinesiology in higher education.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910