I am a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Penn State University, working in the History and Philosophy of Sport program. I also have an affiliate position in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

My research and teaching interests involve three broad areas:  historical and contemporary issues in women’s sport and physical activity; cultural kinesiology; and racial politics and cultural memory.

I am honored to serve as an Affiliated Scholar with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota and with Athlete Ally, and as co-editor (with Aram Goudsouzian) of the University of Illinois Press’s Sport and Society series.

Education

• Ph.D., Cultural Studies of Sport, University of Iowa, 2005
• M.A., Psychology of Sport, University of Iowa, 1999
• B.A., English & Spanish, Luther College, 1996

Honors & Awards

• The Roberta J. Park Award for Scholarly Distinction, 2024
• Guy Lewis Award for Contribution to Sport History, North American Society for Sport History, 2023
• Elected Fellow, National Academy of Kinesiology, 2022
• Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award for the College of Health and Human Development, 2021
• Iowa City High School Hall of Fame, 2019
• Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia, 2017-2018
• George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State University, 2016
• Teaching Excellence Award, College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, 2016-2017      
• Resident Scholars and Artists Program, Institute for the Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, 2015-2016
• Teaching Excellence Award, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University, 2013-2014
• Teaching Excellence Award, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University, 2012-2013
  
  

  Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching, with President Baron, 2016

• Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame, 2011
• Best Article of the Year, International Journal of the History of Sport, 2010
• Center for Teaching Excellence-Lilly Fellowship, 2008-2009
• The Reinhard Sprenger Junior Scholar Award, International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport, 2006
• Lyle Olsen Graduate Student Essay Award, Sport Literature Association, 2005
• Graduate Student Essay Prize, North American Society for Sport History, 2004
• Barbara Brown Student Paper Award, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, 2004

Editorships & Editorial Boards

• Series Co-editor, with Aram Goudsouzian, Sport and Society, University of Illinois Press, 2017-
• Editorial Board, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 2021-
• Associate Editor, Frontiers: The History, Culture and Sociology of Sports , 2019-2021
• Editorial Board, Gender and Sport Series, Emerald Publishing, 2017-
• Editorial Board, Sport History Review, 2014-
• Editorial Board, International Journal of the History of Sport, 2011-
• Editorial Board, Journal of Sport History, 2008-
• Academic Editor, International Journal of the History of Sport (Americas), 2017-2020
• Series Editor, Jan and Terry Todd Series of Physical Culture and Sports, University of Texas Press, 2015-2017
• Associate Editor, Journal of Sport History, 2015-2017
• Section Editor, “The Test of Time,” Journal of Sport History, 2008-2017
• Assistant Editor, Journal of Sport History, 2008-2015