NATA Fellow status recognizes members of the association who have demonstrated outstanding professional scholarly achievement in combination with leadership in advancing research and scholarly endeavors in the profession, including the education and scholarly development of trainees. Only the most accomplished scholars contributing to the athletic training profession earn this honor and distinction, and are allowed to use the prestigious designation of "FNATA".
For questions, please contact Katie Scott at honorsandawards@nata.org.
At a minimum, Fellows candidates need to clearly demonstrate in their application materials having met the following requirements:
- NATA member in good standing.
- 10 years BOC certification.
- 10 years membership in NATA.
- Have held a terminal degree for ten or more years.
- Sustained involvement in the dissemination of research through free communications and / or general program presentations at NATA annual meetings during the 10 years preceding application.
- Demonstrated development and leadership of a research agenda, extending beyond serving as a contributor, resulting in the scholarly dissemination of work resulting in noteworthy impact on the Athletic Training profession.
*Members may not apply for Fellows status while serving on the NATA Board of Directors.
Nominations are open August 1st through September 15th, annually.
Application and Selection
Complete application packets will be reviewed by all members of the Fellows Committee and scored based on the quality and significance of the candidate’s scholarly contributions and leadership activities based on the following criteria:
- Quality and impact of research reflected in the candidate’s scholarly publications and activities
- Relevance of research and scholarly contributions to the advancement of athletic training
- National / international recognition of the candidate’s scholarly accomplishments
- Educational contributions to the scholarly development of research trainees
- Leadership activities focused on research and scholarly endeavors
Each of the above criteria will be reviewed by the committee based on the applicant's CV and responses on the application questions, along with the letters of endorsement from at least one current NATA Fellows. Viable candidates are recommended to the NATA Board of Directors for approval of Fellows status.
Of the two letters of endorsement, one must be from the current group of Fellows. To access a list of current Fellows, please email honorsandawards@nata.org.
NATA Fellows
Please click on a year to view past Fellow Classes:
2025
- Shane Caswell, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Lindsey Eberman, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Adam Lepley, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Lindsey Lepley, PhD, ATC
- Lori Michener, PhD, PT, ATC
- Julianne Schmidt, PnD, LAT, ATC
- Rebecca Stearns, PhD, ATC
- Abbey Thomas, PhD, LAT, ATC
2024
- Christopher Kuenze, PhD, ATC
- Kevin C. Miller, PhD, ATC
- Alan Needle, PhD, ATC
2023
- Matt Hoch, PhD, ATC
- Tim McGuine, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Stephen Thomas, PhD, ATC
- Cailee Welch-Bacon, PhD, ATC
- Susan Yeargin, PhD, ATC
2022
- David Robert Bell, PhD, ATC
- Tom Bowman, PhD, ATC
- Kenny Lam, ScD, ATC
- Rebecca Lopez, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Johna Register-Mihalik, PhD, LAT, ATC, FACSM
2020
- Darin Padua, PhD, ATC
- Joseph Myers, PhD, ATC
- Jason Mihalik, PhD, CAT(C), ATC
- Lindsay DiStefano, PhD, ATC
- Troy Blackburn, PhD, ATC
2019
- Erik A Wikstrom, PhD, ATC, LAT
- Thomas P. Dompier, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Timothy Butterfield, PhD, ATC, FACSM
2018
- Cathleen N. Brown Crowell, ATC
2017
- Steven P. Broglio, PhD, ATC
- Riann Palmieri-Smith, PhD, ATC
- Stacy Walker, PhD, ATC
2016
- Tracey Covassin, PhD, ATC
- Gianluca Del Rossi, PhD, ATC
- Joe Hart, PhD, ATC
- Tricia Hubbard-Turner, PhD, ATC, LAT
- Stephanie Mazerolle, PhD, ATC
- Randy Schmitz, PhD, ATC
2015
- Ken Cameron, PhD, MPH, ATC
- Alison Valier, PhD, ATC
2014
- Jennifer E. Earl-Boehm, PhD, ATC
- Scott E. Ross, PhD, ATC
2013
- Mark Merrick, PhD, ATC
- John Powell, PhD, AT, ATC
- Bill Holcomb, PhD, ATC, LAT
2012
- Carrie Docherty, PhD, LAT, ATC
- Phillip Gribble, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Rod A. Harter, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- MaryBeth Horodyski, EdD, ATC, LAT
- Michael G. Miller, PhD, EdD, ATC
- James Onate, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Kimberly Peer, EdD, ATC, FNATA
- Charles “Buz” Swanik, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Bonnie L. Van Lunen, PhD, ATC, FNATA
2011
- Mark Hoffman, PhD, ATC
- Tamara McLeod, PhD, ATC
- David Perrin, PhD, ATC
- Bryan Riemann, PhD, ATC
- Susan Saliba, PhD, ATC, PT
- Kent Scriber, EdD, ATC, PT
- Erik Swartz, PhD, ATC
2010
- Craig Denegar, PhD, ATC, PT
- Tom Kaminski, PhD, ATC, FACSM
- Jeff Konin, PhD, ATC, PT
- William Pitney, EdD, ATC
- Eric Sauers, PhD, ATC
2009
- David O. Draper, EdD, ATC, LAT
- Jon Ty Hopkins, PhD, ATC
- Michael R. Sitler, EdD, ATC
2008
- Brent Arnold, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Gerald Bell, EdD, ATC, PT, FNATA
- Doug Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA
- Mitch Cordova, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA
- Mike Ferrara, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Kevin Guskiewicz, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Jay Hertel, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Jenny Hootman, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA
- Chris Ingersoll, PhD, ATC, VAT, FNATA
- Doug Kleiner, PhD, ATC, CSCS, FNATA
- Ken Knight, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA
- Carl Mattacola, PhD, ATC, FNATA
- Bill Prentice, ATC, PT, FNATA
- Sandy Shultz, PhD, ATC, CSCS, FNATA
- Chad Starkey, PhD, ATC, LAT, FNATA
- Tim Uhl, PhD, ATC, PT, FNATA
- Tom Weidner, PhD, ATC, LAT, FNATA
- Gary Wilkerson, EdD, ATC, FNATA