NATA Hall of Fame

Ken Locker has focused on revenue and scholarship initiatives for the profession, serving numerous NATA and Foundation committees. He raised the profession's public profile, working with the Dallas Cowboys from 1973-90 (including three Super Bowls and two Pro Bowls). In 1991, he was an athletic trainer in the movie “Necessary Roughness.” Locker now works with Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine.

Pete Koehneke's goal is to prepare students well enough that he would trust them to care for his daughters. He has chaired the Competencies Committee of the NATA Education Council and the Joint Review Committee on Educational Programs in Athletic Training, and he helped ease the transition to accredited curricula. Koehneke is the athletic training education program director at Canisius College.

Ken Kladnik has been active in District Ten, chairing several committees and editing the district newsletter. He served on and later chaired the NATA Foundation Scholarship Committee before returning to the role of student himself, earning a doctorate. He is the director of rehabilitation services at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital. Kladnik

Peggy A. Houglum's service centers on education: she has chaired the Continuing Education Committee, helped develop programming for the Annual Meeting and became the first woman to serve as an associate editor of the Journal of Athletic Training. She is an associate professor at Duquesne University.

NATA President #7

As a former student of Pinky Newell, Denny Miller knows volunteers make or break an association. He got involved in national athletic training issues and eventually completed two terms as NATA president. He directed initiatives that improved sports medicine in the collegiate setting. Miller is the director of sports medicine for Purdue University.

Carl Krein began his athletic training career in 1964 when he was hired as the head athletic trainer at the State University of New York at Potsdam. As an NATA board member, he focused on helping athletic trainer network and mentoring young professionals. Krein was the head athletic trainer at Central Connecticut University from 1966 until his retirement in 1996.

Kenneth Kopke opened doors for athletic trainers in the industrial setting. Kopke created the Healthletics Programs after many years consulting for General Motors on in-house rehabilitation, fitness/wellness programs and ergonomics. Work-Fit now directs its attention toward lowering health care costs for manufacturing, business, health care and educational institutions. Kopke is retired.

Ken Knight has amassed a career of firsts: he was Weber State's first full-time athletic trainer in 1969 and was the inaugural chair of the athletic training department at Indiana State. He is a past editor of the Journal of Athletic Training and was instrumental in launching the NATA News and the Athletic Training Educators Journal. Knight has been a professor at BYU since 1996.

Andy Clawson has been the head athletic trainer/director of sports medicine at The Citadel since 1973. Throughout his career he has served at the state, district and national levels. Additionally, Clawson chaired the advisory committee that oversaw the Legal Practice Act for Athletic Trainers' employment in South Carolina.

Originally known for his work in sports rehabilitation, Don Chu developed an extensive reputation in the areas of fitness and conditioning. He has been credited with bringing plyometric training to the attention of the athletic world. Chu served on the NATA board and led the National Strength & Conditioning Association. He is the clinic director of Athercare Fitness & Rehabilitation.