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AHS Distinguished Alumni

On October 22, the College of Applied Health Sciences held one of its favorite events of the year, the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony. This year, AHS honored four outstanding alumni whose leadership has changed public perceptions of intellectual disabilities, increased awareness of trends in adolescent health, introduced the study of leisure to Japan, and contributed to the advancement of knowledge and technology in the field of audiology.

Dr. Frank Hayden Dr. Frank Hayden accepts his award.

Dr. Frank Hayden
Professor Emeritus, McMaster University, and Special Olympics Visionary
Burlington, Ontario, Canada

For more than 50 years, Dr. Frank Hayden has researched, designed, implemented, and evaluated exercise and sports programs. While completing his master's degree in 1958 and his Ph.D. in 1962 at the University of Illinois, he worked with Dr. Thomas Cureton in the Physical Fitness Research Laboratory. As a young scholar in the University of Toronto’s School of Physical and Health Education, he upended the widely-held belief that intellectual disabilities prevented individuals from developing the physical fitness and skill necessary to participate in sports programs when he demonstrated that children with intellectual disabilities responded well to strength and cardiovascular conditioning. His work led to a long association with the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, where he helped to develop the first Special Olympics Games in Chicago in 1968. Dr. Hayden served as executive director of Special Olympics from 1968 to 1972, and returned to the organization in 1981 to lead the international development of Special Olympics. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, his country's highest honor.


Dr. Laura Kann Dr. Laura Kann and family pose by the Distinguished Alumni display.

Dr. Laura Kann
Chief, Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch
Division of Adolescent and School Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Georgia

Dr. Laura Kann completed her bachelor's degree in school health and safety education in 1982 and her master's degree in health education in 1983 at the University of Illinois. Her doctoral degree in health behavior is from Indiana University. Upon completing her Ph.D. in 1987, she joined the Division of Adolescent and School Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As head of the Surveillance and Evaluation Research Branch, she manages national and international surveys of health risk behaviors among adolescents, obesity, and asthma, and assessments of school health practices at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. Dr. Kann has co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed journal publications, as well as numerous CDC publications and peer-reviewed national and international conference presentations and posters. A past president of the American School Health Association, she has received more than three dozen professional awards, including the Division of Health and Human Services' Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service, the CDC Honor Award, and the Young Professional Award from the American Public Health Association's Maternal and Child Health Section.


Dr. Hitoshi Nishino Dr. Hitoshi Nishino accepts his award.

Dr. Hitoshi Nishino
President
Tokai University Fukuoka Junior College
Fukuoka, Japan

Dr. Hitoshi Nishino's research has focused on leisure behavior, recreation, and daily activities among adolescents and older adults in Japan. He received his bachelor of education degree from Tokyo Gakugei Teacher's University in 1969, his master’s degree in sports science from Tokai University in 1978, and his Ph.D. in leisure studies from the University of Illinois in 1997. He was a faculty member and administrator at Tokai University from 1978 to 2010, when he was appointed president of the Tokai Fukuoka Junior College and a trustee of the Tokai Educational System. He first visited the University of Illinois as a visiting professor in 1981, returning in 1991 as a doctoral student. He established and was head of Tokai University’s Department of Sport and Leisure Management, the first department to use the word "leisure" in Japan. Dr. Nishino also served as dean of the Tokai University Graduate School of Sports Science. He will continue to build his field in Japan by implementing courses in sport, leisure, and tourism management as president of Fukuoka Junior College.


Dr. Donald J. Schum Dr. Donald Schum accepts his Distinguished Alumni Award.

Dr. Donald J. Schum
Vice President of Audiology and Professional Relations
Oticon, Inc.
Somerset, New Jersey

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in speech and hearing science, Dr. Donald Schum went on to earn a master's degree in audiology at the University of Iowa in 1984 and a doctoral degree in audiology at Louisiana State University in 1988. Throughout his professional career, he has been engaged in research on hearing aids, speech understanding, and aging. In higher education, Dr. Schum was an assistant professor of otolaryngology and communicative sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and an assistant professor and director of the hearing aid lab at the University of Iowa. He joined Oticon as a senior audiologist in 1995, and was promoted to his current position three years later. He has published more than two-dozen research articles in leading journals, and is co-editor of Assistive Devices for the Hearing Impaired. Dr. Schum currently serves on the executive board of the American Auditory Society and on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology.


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