Five Honored as Alumni Achievers
The U-M Kinesiology Alumni Achievement Awards were presented October 27. This year's honorees include alumni from the fields of rehabilitation, strength and fitness, and health disparities research.
View the Flickr album of the festivities: http://myumi.ch/J2VpG
The Early Career Achievement Award is given to recent alumni who are excelling in a field related to Kinesiology. This year's awardees are Nick Shaw, SM ‘11 and Mike Israetal, MVS ‘07.
After graduating from U-M Kinesiology, Nick Shaw moved to Manhattan and became a certified personal trainer, spending many years training and designing diet programs for professional athletes and business professionals with busy schedules.
In 2015 Nick launched Renaissance Periodization (RP), a training and diet services company. RP has been challenging previously-held “golden rules” in the fitness world by basing their meal and training plans completely on scientific evidence.
In addition to being the founder and CEO of RP, Nick is also a competitive powerlifter and bodybuilder. Through this, he has had the opportunity to work with numerous national-level physique athletes and world-class strength athletes.
After graduating from U-M Kinesiology, Mike Israetal went on to complete his Ph.D. in Sport Physiology at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), where he also served as a strength coach, sport scientist, and nutritional consultant to Division I Athletes.
Mike then became a professor of Exercise Physiology, Personal Training, and Advanced Programming for Sports and Fitness at the University of Central Missouri. He also served as a consultant on sports nutrition at a U.S. Olympic training site, and coached numerous powerlifters, weightlifters, bodybuilders, and other individuals in both diet and weight training.
Currently, Mike is the head science consultant for Renaissance Periodization, as well as an author for Juggernaut Training Systems. He is also professor of Exercise Science at Temple University and a competitive powerlifter, bodybuilder and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grappler, holding two Arnold Grappling Classic Jiu Jitsu Champion titles.
The Career Achievement Award is given to alumni who have shown outstanding professional and personal achievement throughout their career in their chosen field and/or public service in any field. This year’s recipients are Jose Kottoor, M.S. ‘94 and Melva Thompson-Robinson, PE ‘89.
Shortly after Jose Kottoor earned his Master’s degree at U-M Kinesiology, he became the director of Physical Medicine and Rehab at Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills. Returning to his alma mater, he served as the director of Rehabilitation Services from 2002 to 2011.
Subsequently Jose became director of Physical and Occupational Therapy at Beaumont Health. And most recently, he accepted a new position at Beaumont Health, Wayne, as the vice president of Operations.
Jose has more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare industry and is seen as a leader in physical therapy and health care, as well as an accomplished rehabilitation clinician.
After Melva Thompson-Robinson graduated with a Physical Education degree in 1989, she earned her Master’s at Ohio University and Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina.
Melva has held positions as the associate executive director for Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership, as well as the executive director for Health Disparities Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Currently, Melva is co-editor of the Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice and a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where she has been teaching classes in public health for more than 10 years.
Throughout her career she has done extensive work in the areas of health disparities and sexual health, focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention, teen pregnancy prevention, and African American health.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to an individual whose service to Michigan Kinesiology has enhanced and changed Kinesiology over time. This year's awardees is Donna Fry, BS ‘82, MS ‘87, Ph.D. ‘98.
Donna earned all of her degrees from the U-M School of Kinesiology. She joined the University of Michigan-Flint faculty in 1987, and is currently serving as the dean of the School of Health Professions. She is also a licensed physical therapist with the State of Michigan.
Previously Donna held positions on the Board of Trustees for the Michigan Health Council, Genesee Health Plan Board of Directors, and Scientific Advisory Committee of the American Physical Therapy Association. She has also served on the Board of Directors of MS Connection, Inc., an online community serving people with multiple sclerosis. And Donna has held a number of leadership positions including president and vice president of the Michigan Physical Therapy Institute for Education and Research.
Donna’s work includes authoring 22 peer-reviewed journal articles, more than 90 peer-reviewed scientific and professional presentations, and the development of a patent. She has co-authored grants earning over four million dollars of funding. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Silver Quill Award for Qualitative and Quantitative Research from the Canadian Physiotherapy Association and the Degenerative Disease Special Interest Group Service Award – Neurology Section from the American Physical Therapy Association.
Congratulations to all honorees, and Go Blue!