DALLAS, May 29, 2013 – The National Athletic Trainers’ Association, a nonprofit organization representing and supporting members of the athletic training profession, will induct five individuals into its prestigious Hall of Fame at the NATA 64th Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposia in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 26. The Hall of Fame is the highest honor an athletic trainer can receive. Honorees will be recognized for their work in advancing the athletic training profession, including scholarly research, clinical advancements and strong leadership. Since inducting its first class in 1962, the Hall of Fame now has 282 members.
The 2013 Hall of Fame inductees includes Ron Courson, ATC, PT, NREMT-I, CSCS; R.T. Floyd, EdD, ATC, CSCS; Robert Kersey, PhD, ATC, CSCS; Ralph Reiff, MEd, ATC, LAT; and Charles Thompson, MS, ATC.
Ron Courson, ATC, PT, NREMT-I, CSCS, is currently senior associate athletic director for sports medicine at the University of Georgia and had formerly been director of sports medicine. Prior to that he was director of rehabilitation at the University of Alabama and had previously worked with Samford University, the Alabama Sports Medicine Clinic and Birmingham Stallions. He is a national leader in emergency care and sudden death and has authored several published papers and participated in task forces and committees to further education and research.
Courson’s volunteer contributions include work at the 1996 Summer Olympics (chief athletic trainer); Goodwill Games, World University Games and Pan American Games. He has served as president, Alabama Athletic Trainers’ Association; chair, Alabama Board of Athletic Trainers; and chair, NATA’s College/University Athletic Trainers’ Committee. Courson has a Bachelor of Education from Samford University and completed graduate coursework at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
R.T. Floyd, EdD, ATC, CSCS, has been the head athletic trainer at University of West Alabama (formerly Livingston University) for nearly 40 years and now also has the title of professor and director of athletic training and sports medicine at the school. He is the incoming president of the NATA Research & Education Foundation and has served on the NATA board of directors. He is the first member to be elected simultaneously on both the NATA and NATA Foundation boards.
Floyd’s legacy will be his dedication to the profession and the contributions he has provided. He has also served on the NATA Educational Multimedia Committee and is active at the local, state and national levels. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of West Alabama and Doctor of Education from the University of Alabama.
Robert Kersey, PhD, ATC, CSCS, is professor of kinesiology and director of the Athletic Training Education Program at California State University at Fullerton. He had previously been an associate professor at Cal State Fullerton and at San Jose State University. He also served as a head athletic trainer and professor at Harnell College (Salinas, Calif.); athletic trainer at Santa Rita High School (Tucson, Ariz.); and interned as an athletic trainer at Oregon State University.
Kersey is well known for his commitment to athletic training education and the development of young professionals. Kersey chaired NATA’s position statement on anabolic-androgenic steroids and is widely regarded as an international expert on the subject. He has served on the NATA Research & Education Foundation board of directors, National Convention Program and Board of Certification Standards committee and participated on several editorial and advisory boards form the local to international levels. Kersey received his Bachelor of Science from Oregon State University; his Master of Science from the University of Arizona; and his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of New Mexico.
Ralph Reiff, MEd, ATC, LAT, is the executive director of St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis. He has previously served as head athletic trainer, director of sports medicine and associate professor at Butler University (Indianapolis). He is an innovator and leader in the field of athletic training – from creating a tool to demonstrate the business value of athletic trainers to his role in the passage of state certification and regulation of the profession to his contributions at all levels of elite or amateur sports and physical activity injury prevention and treatment.
Reiff was manager of athlete care for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta and has overseen the medical aspects of more than 20 NCAA events including the Men’s Final Four Basketball Championships; provided care for the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials and FINA Swimming World Championships, among other national and international sporting events. A graduate of the University of Indianapolis (Bachelor of Science), he received his Master in Education from Miami University in Ohio.
Charles Thompson, MS, ATC, is the head athletic trainer at Princeton University, a position he has also held at the University of Maine and University of Rhode Island. Thompson has served as athletic trainer and clinical instructor at the University of Pittsburgh; assistant athletic trainer for football at Penn State University and head athletic trainer at Leander (Texas) High School.
His commitment to the profession has contributed to the positive image and elevated role of athletic trainers in the realm of health care and sports medicine. He chaired NATA’s College/University Athletic Trainers’ Committee; was the NATA liaison to the American of Academy of Family Physicians; president of the Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association; the central representative to the Pennsylvania Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association; and former chair and member of the Athletic Trainers’ Society of New Jersey. Thompson received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Rhode Island and his Master of Science from the University of Arizona.
“We recognize the remarkable commitment of these five individuals and their tremendous contributions to the athletic training profession, says Chuck Kimmel, ATC, NATA past president and Honors & Awards Committee chair. “We celebrate and honor this esteemed class of 2013 and all they do to champion NATA and its ongoing efforts to promote the wide reaching association initiatives.”
About NATA: National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) – Health Care for Life & Sport
Athletic trainers are health care professionals who specialize in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries and sport-related illnesses. They prevent and treat chronic musculoskeletal injuries from sports, physical and occupational activity, and provide immediate care for acute injuries. Athletic trainers offer a continuum of care that is unparalleled in health care. The National Athletic Trainers' Association represents and supports 35,000 members of the athletic training profession.