On Friday, Oct. 15 the West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences will induct four graduates into its 2010 Hall of Fame and name its 2010 Outstanding Alumnus at the Erickson Alumni Center. This will be the 23RD anniversary of the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences’ Hall of Fame. A reception will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m., and the formal induction ceremony will begin at 7:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

Those to be inducted into the 2010 Hall of Fame are Kevin Elko, Paul Grace, Elizabeth Majestic and Uriel Simri. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will conclude with the 2010 Outstanding Alumnus Award presented to Dolores “Dee” Ware.

The College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences is proud to add the names of this year’s class of inductees to its growing list of outstanding alumni. More than 100 alumni have previously been inducted into the College’s Hall of Fame.

Mary Wykle will receive the 2010 Dean’s Service Award. This award is presented in recognition of Wykle’s ongoing support of the College and in recognition of her leadership and expertise within health and aquatics, which has long been recognized both nationally and worldwide. Wykle recently received the 2010 Global Award – Lifetime Achievement from the Aquatic Exercise Association.

To be eligible for nomination, an individual must hold a degree awarded by the WVU College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences or a certification in Athletic Training prior to 1997; have been a faculty or staff member; and have made significant contributions to the College, their profession, and or society. Those presently employed by the College are not eligible.

Brief bios for the honorees follow:

Paul Grace received his undergraduate and master’s degree in physical education from WVU. Grace is the President/Chief Executive Officer of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.

Previously, Grace served in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Athletics and representative to the National Organization for Competency Assurance in Washington, D.C.
He was appointed the first Executive Director of the NATA Board of Certification and was appointed by the Governor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to serve on the nation’s first multidisciplinary licensing board as an athletic trainer board member.

Grace was inducted into both the NATA and the Athletic Trainers Society of Massachusetts Hall of Fame and has received awards including the NATA’s President’s Challenge Award. In 2005 the NATA Board of Certification established the “Paul Grace Leadership Award” to advance the ATC credential to the sports medicine community. He was a co-editor for the first-edition of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons textbook, and previously served on the WVU College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Visiting Committee.

Kevin Elko received his bachelor’s degrees in biology and coaching education from California University of Pennsylvania. While at WVU he completed a master’s degree in both counseling and sports psychology, a graduate certificate in gerontology, and a doctorate in education with a major emphasis in sport and counseling. He is also a certified addictions counselor.

Elko is a nationally renowned performance consultant, professional motivational speaker, and author. He has consulted with numerous companies including: ING, Tyson Foods, Abbott Labs, and Pioneer Investments. He presents more than 200 times per year and has spoken in every state and internationally.

In the sports world, Elko has consulted with the University of Pittsburgh athletic department and football programs at the University of Miami, Rutgers University, Louisiana State University, and University of Alabama. He has also consulted with professional teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Cowboys, and New Orleans Saints.

He is the author of four books, including The Pep Talk, which is in the process of becoming a motion picture. He was inducted into the Brownsville Area High School Hall of Fame and WVU College of Human Resources and Education Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth Majestic received her bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1987 from WVU and earned her master’s degrees in public health, 1989, and health promotions, 1988, from Indiana University. She is also a Senior Executive Fellow in the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

For almost 20 years, Majestic has served in various positions with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Majestic is on sabbatical from her position at CDC and serves in the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.

Previously, Majestic served as the Acting U.S. Deputy-Assistant Secretary for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the HHS.

She worked to establish the Coordinating Center for Health Information and Service to help people, families, and communities protect their health and safety.

While at CDC, Majestic served as the associate director of Policy, Planning and Legislation for the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Deputy Director of the Office on Smoking and Health.

Uriel Simri received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from the City College of New York and earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in physical education from WVU. He is currently retired after having lectured at Wingate Institute of Physical Education and Sport for more than 30 years. He now conducts research at the Institute, which is the only physical education campus in the Middle East.

Simri was born in Vienna, Austria in 1925. His family moved to Palestine in 1934, where he went to school and served with various military groups before completing school. He has served as international basketball (FIBA) referee, participating in international games on all continents, and was the first-ever Israeli selected to officiate the Olympic Games at the 1956 Melbourne Games.

Simri is the first executive director of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and is the author of more than 20 books. He has served as an officer for the Society of the History of PE and Sport in Asia and the International Society for Comparative Physical Education and Sport.

Dolores “Dee” Ware earned her bachelors degree in physical education from WVU in 1952. Upon early graduation, she taught modern dance, along with other dance programs and served as advisor to Orchesis. In 1952 she married Al Ware, a 1950/1952 WVU graduate. She taught in public schools in North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Dee and Al lived in many cities in the U.S. and spent five years in Tokyo where she was active in various social and church-based groups.

In 1977, she and her husband co-founded Amherst International, Inc. The firm moved into the fiber optics business as Amherst Fiber Optics.

She has served on several outside boards, including the Amherst Board of Directors and was the chairman of both the WVU College of Physical Activity and Sports Science and Blaney House Visiting Committees. She was inducted into the College of Physical Activity and Sport Hall of Fame in 2003.

The Wares and the Ware Family Foundation support WVU and are members of the Woodburn Circle Society. The Ware Distinguished Professor, a position established by the Ware Family Foundation, provides leadership in childhood health and fitness to help reduce childhood obesity rates in the state. Dee and Al have been leaders and benefactors in the development of WVUs Stansbury Hall Fitness/Wellness Center.

—WVU—

10/07/10

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CONTACT: Kimberly Cameon, College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences
304-293-0827, Kimberly.Cameon@mail.wvu.edu