McCraw Departmental Lecture Series
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
The departmental seminar series is named after the late Dr. Lynn W. McCraw who served as professor and chair of the department from 1958 to 1973.
Upcoming lecture: Chasing the Runner’s High: The Neurobiology of Physical Activity Motivation
Presented by: Ayland Letsinger, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and Future Assistant Professor, Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
Date: October 11, 2024
Time: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Location: BEL 962
Dr. Letsinger will discuss the widespread issue of physical inactivity and its biological underpinnings, highlighting his current research on the link between the endocannabinoid system and physical activity motivation using advanced techniques in neuroscience and genetics.
Contact Tommy Hunt for more information.
Past Lectures
2023-2024
Associate Professor Charles Stocking
“The Mismeasure of Gods: Classical Sculpture and the Origins of Scientific Racism in Sport”
KHE’s Physical Education Division (PED) Faculty
“What to Know About the Physical Education Division”
KHE’s Health Behavior and Health Education Faculty
“What to Know About the Health Behavior and Health Education Faculty”
KHE’s Movement and Cognitive Rehabilitation Science Faculty
“What to Know About the Movement and Cognitive Rehabilitation Science Faculty”
KHE’s Exercise Physiology Faculty
“What to Know About the Exercise Physiology Faculty”
2022-2023
KHE’s Sport Management and Physical Culture and Sport Studies Faculty
“Jock Talk: Getting to Know Your Sport Management + Physical Culture and Sport Studies Faculty”
Jill Barnes, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology,
University of Wisconsin Madison
“Impact of Aging on Cerebral Blood Flow Regulation in Humans”
Father Jose Rodriguez
“After Maria: Moving from Recovery to Restoration”
Randy Trumbower, PT, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School
“Therapeutic Hypoxia: a Breath-taking Approach to Enhance Motor Recovery After Spinal Injury”
Megan Wenner, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware
“Let’s Talk About Sex and Why We Need to Control for This Important Biological Variable”
2021-2022
Tanvi Bhatt, PT, MSc, Ph.D., professor, Department of Physical Therapy, and director, CogMoBal Laboratory, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago.
“Perturbation-based Fall-risk Assessment and Training: Slips, Trips & Beyond”
Jason Mateika, School of Medicine, Department of Physiology at Wayne State University
“An Overview of the Therapeutic Effects of Mild Intermittent Hypoxia in Patients with Sleep Apnea”
Kevin Shoemaker, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, (Acting) Associate Vice-President (Research), School of Kinesiology, Western University, Ontario, Canada
“Sympathetic Linguistics: Recruitment Strategies in Efferent Sympathetic Nerve Activity”
2010-2020
Vanessa Heggie, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, College of Medicine and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
“Performing at the limit – learning from the history of extreme sports and exploration”
Liesl Nydegger, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director of the Gender Health Equity Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Systemic and Interpersonal Barriers to HIV Prevention among Black & Latina Women”
Audrey Stone, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director of the Autonomic Control of Circulation Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Exercise and diabetes: A cautionary tale”
Sophie Lalande, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Exercise limitations in patients with type 2 diabetes”
Miguel Pinedo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Migration as a social determinant of health: Advancing Latino health research”
Jason Shurley, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Coaching, University of Wisconsin Whitewater
“From forbidden to mandatory: The evolution of strength training for sport”
Bill Kohl, John Bartholomew, Ed Coyle, and Darla Castelli, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Physical Inactivity: It Takes a ‘Village’ to Understand It”
Jennifer L. Temple, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director, Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory, Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, University of Buffalo
“Caffeinated Kids: The Impact of caffeine on physiology and behavior in adolescents”
Liesl Nydegger, Julie Maslowsky, Miguel Pinedo, and Keryn Pasch, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Health Disparities in Texas: Preparing KHE Students in a Changing State”
Paul J. Fadel, Professor, The University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation
“Sympathetic Control of the Circulation in Type 2 Diabetes Patients”
Deborah Parra-Medina, MPH, Ph.D., FAAHB, Director, Latino Research Initiative, Professor, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, the University of Texas at Austin
“Enlace: A Promotora-led Physical Activity Intervention for Latinas in South Texas”
Lara Latimer, Ph.D. Lecturer and Research Program Coordinator in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Confessions of an Ivy League Postdoc: Expectations, Revelations, and Validation”
Roger Farrar, Ph.D. Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin
“Muscle Macrophages: Not Just for Clean up, But Necessary for Repair”
Paul von Hippel, Ph.D., Associate Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin
“Why are some countries more obese than others—demographics or environment?”
Scott K. Powers, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, the University of Florida
“Exercise: Teaching Myocytes New Tricks”
Jonathan Matthis, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Perceptual Systems, The University of Texas at Austin
“Gaze and the visual control of foot placement when walking over real-world rough terrain”
Miyoung Kim, RN, Ph.D., Professor, School of Nursing, the University of Texas at Austin
“Role of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in addressing health equity for underserved communities”
Dr. David K. Wiggins, Professor, School of Recreation, Health and Tourism, George Mason University
“Black Auxiliaries, Aryan Racial Supremacy, and the Berlin Olympic Games”
Julie Maslowsky, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, the University of Texas at Austin
“The role of sleep in adolescent health”
Francisco Gonzalez-Lima, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, the University of Texas at Austin
“Enhancement of Cognitive and Physical Performance by Near-Infrared Lasers”
Jaimie Davis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, the University of Texas at Austin
“School Gardens: Impact on health in children”
Paul Gordon, Ph.D., MPH, Professor and Chair, Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University “Muscular Fitness – Get a Grip, it’s your Health”
Jan Todd, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology, the University of Texas at Austin
“Reflections on the Emergence of Physical (Cultural) Studies”
Colin Wilborn, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Exercise Science, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
“The role of diet and supplementation in the prevention of overtraining”
Larry Abraham, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, the University of Texas at Austin
“Pursuing peculiar paradoxes in performance…one foot at a time”
John Bartholomew, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, the University of Texas at Austin
“Environments Change Behavior, But Who Changes Environments?”
Michael Mackert, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Advertising, the University of Texas at Austin
“Communicating with low health literate audiences: education and persuasion”
Thomas Hunt, J.D., Ph.D., Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, the University of Texas at Austin
“Sport and cold war”
Richard Simpson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Human Performance, University of Houston
“The impact of persistent viral infections and physical exercise on the aging immune system”
Rick Neptune, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
“Improving Human Performance through Design Optimization”
Aaron Baker, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, the University of Texas at Austin
“Reengineering growth factor signaling in ischemic disease”
Rochelle Buffenstein, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
“The naked mole-rat, a novel model for biomedical research”
Darla Castelli, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, the University of Texas at Austin
“Plasma to Playground: Physical Activity and Cognitive Health in Children and Emerging Adults”
Edward Coyle, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Physiology of the Marathon: How Fast Might They Go?”
Michael Cramer, J.D. Director, Texas Program in Sports and Media
“Sports, Media, and American Culture”
Rosa Schnyer, D.A.O.M., Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy
“Acupuncture in the Management of Chronic Pain”
Rick Neptune, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
“Improving Human Performance through Design Optimization”
Tim Lightfoot, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology
Texas A&M University
“Is Voluntary Physical Activity Really Voluntary?”
Juan Dominguez, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
“Brain and Hormone Influence on Natural and Artificial Reward”
Lovett Distinguished Alumni Award Lecture
Speaker and title TBD; Mary Steinhardt will announce at a later date Bob Heere, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education “This is Our Team! Community Development in and Through Sport”
2011-2012
Mark Regnerus, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
“Sexual decision making and emotional health in emerging adulthood”
Scott Mclean, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Department of Kinesiology, Southwestern University
“Research to Application: How do you take an idea from the lab to the pool?”
Liza Shapiro, Ph.D., Professor, Dept of Anthropology
“Primate locomotion and the evolution of human bipedalism”
Steven Riechman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Department of Health & Kinesiology, Texas A&M University
“Cholesterol: When Bad Is Good and More Is Better.”
Victor Convertino, Ph.D., Senior Research Physiologist
U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research
“From Space to Iraq: Physiological Research and Clinical Applications.”
Matthew Brothers, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
“Mechanisms of Impaired Blood Pressure Control in Heat stressed Individuals”
Tre’ McCalister, Ph.D.
“Impact of Worksite Health on Population Health”
Honoring Dorothy Lovett Distinguished Alumni
Verner Moller, Ph.D.
Lance Armstrong & the Media: “Innuendo, the Athlete and Responsible Journalism”
Dr. William Cooke, Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Health and Kinesiology at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“Humans Under Pressure: Studies of Autonomic Cardiovascular Control”
Dr. Andreana Haley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology
Surviving Prosperity: “Metabolic syndrome and the brain”
Dr. Mark Hayward, Ph.D., Professor, Population Research Center, College of Liberal Arts
“Marriage, Divorce, and Biological Risk: Does the Body Forget?”
Dr. Chandra Bhat, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering
“On Jointly Analyzing the Physical Activity Participation Levels of Individuals in a Family Unit”
Dr. Guy Parcel, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Intervention Mapping: Theory and Evidence-based Planning for Health Promotion Programs”
Dr. John Ivy, Ph.D., Department Chair, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Regulation of Blood Glucose by Amino Acid Supplementation”
2000-2010
Dr. Pamm Kellett, Ph.D., School of Management and Marketing
Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
Sports and Drought: “Managing the Physiological, Social & Governance Impacts”
Craig M. Kemper M.D., Translational Research in the Austin Medical Community
“Ongoing neuroscience research at the brain and spine center and future directions of collaboration between UT and the medical community”
John B. Bartholomew, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
Texas I-Can: “The Impact of Physically Active, Academic Lessons on Activity, Behavior, and Academic Outcomes”
Hirofumi Tanaka, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Swimming and cardiovascular disease risks”
Jason Wilken Ph.D., MPT, Director, Military Performance Lab, Brooke Army Medical Center
“Physical Performance Assessment in Highly Active Military Amputees”
Ben Carrington, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts
“Sport and the Remaking of Race. Or, how Tiger became black”
Marlene Dixon, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“The Work-Family Interface in Sport: A Multilevel Perspective”
October Jan Todd, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Size matters: muscles, drugs, and sport”
Dr. Jaime Schultz, University of Maryland
“Technologies of Gendered Athleticism in the Twentieth Century, U.S. Women’s Sports”
Louis Harrison, Ph.D., UT Curriculum and Instruction
“Racial Influences in Sport & Physical Activity”
Dilip Karnik, M.D.
Medical Director, Pediatric Neurology Department, Dell Children’s Hospital
“Current Advances in the Neurobiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders”
H. W. (Bill) Kohl, Ph.D., Research Professor
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“On Outbreaks, Overload, Epidemics, and Specificity “Physical Activity and Public Health”
Christine Dolbier, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina
“Promoting Resilient and Thriving Stress Responses”
Honoring Dorothy Lovett Distinguished Alumni
Deborah Rohm Young, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland-College Park
“Physical Activity Interventions for Young Girls: Lessons Learned and Next Steps”
David R. Bassett, Jr., Ph.D., Professor
Department of Exercise, Sport, and Leisure Studies, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
“The Cycling World Hour Record”
Thomas P. Erlinger, M.D., Director of Clinical Research, Seton Family of Hospitals
“Diet Effects on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors”
Alexa K. Stuifbergen, Ph.D., RN, Professor, School of Nursing
“Physical Activity for Persons with Chronic & Disabling Conditions”
Robert Malina, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Physical Activity: the Present in the Context of the Past”
Evangelos A. Christou, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University
“Aging and Learning Novel Fine Motor Tasks”
Laurence Chalip, Ph.D., Ed Coyle, Ph.D., Roger Farrar, Ph.D., and Jules Woolf, Ph.D.
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Steroid use in sports: interdisciplinary approaches for ongoing problems”
Peter Stone, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Sciences
“RoboCup: The Robot Soccer World Cup”
Christine Schmidt, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
“New Tissue for Old Bodies: Engineering Approaches for Functional Nerve Regeneration”
James Flucky, Ph.D., Associate Professor,
Department of Kinesiology, Texas AM University
“Regulation of Muscle Protein Synthesis: Effects of Resistance Exercise and/or Simulated Microgravity”
Michael Smolensky, Ph.D., Health Sciences Center at Houston
“Circadian Rhythms in Human Physiology and Physical Performance”
Stephen Hursting, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences
“Obesity, Energy Balance and Cancer: A Mechanistic Perspective”
Lisa Griffin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Neural Adaptations to Fatigue and Training: Applications to Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation”
Jeffrey J. Zachwieja, Ph.D., Gatorade Sports Science Institute
“From Carbohydrate U to Carbohydrate Business with a Little Sprinkle of Protein in Between”
Rafer Lutz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Baylor University
“The thIN Crowd. Social Norms and their Impact on Exercise Participation”
Marcia G. Ory, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Health, Texas A&M University
“What Translational Research Tells Us About Keeping Older Adults Physically Active”
Robert L. Helmreich, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology
Dealing with Danger in Aviation and Medicine”
Allisa Carter, Ph.D., UT Volunteer and Service Learning Center
“The UT service-learning initiative: Incorporating community service into your classes.”
Christopher Ellison, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology
“Religion, Health, and Mortality: What We Know, What We Need to Know”
John Hoberman, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Germanic Studies
“The Doping Mess After Athens: Where Are We?”
Waneen Spirduso, Ed.D, Jan Todd, Ph.D., Terry Todd, Ph.D. Department of Kinesiology and Health Education with Terry Christian, CAHPERD
“We Remember… Dr. Lynn McCraw”
Richard Kreider, Ph.D., Professor
Center for Exercise, Nutrition and Preventive Health Research, Baylor University
“Overview of the Curves Women’s Health Initiative”
George Cunningham, Ph.D., Professor, Sport & Sport Management, Texas A&M University
“On Being Different: the effects of Diversity in Sports Organizations”
John Bartholomew, Ph.D., Laurence Chalip, Ph.D., Ed Coyle, Ph.D., Nell Gottlieb, Ph.D., John Ivy, and Dolly Lambdin, Ed.D., Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Possible Causes and Cures for Obesity in Texas: a Multi-Discipline Program”
Lisa Leiden, Ph.D., VP for Research
“Human Subjects – what you always wanted to know and needed to know”
Debra Umberson, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology
“Marital Quality and Health”
Patricia Stout, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Advertising
“Stigma and Media Depictions of Mental Illness”
Christine Green, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Understanding Sport Event Volunteers”
Jonathan Dingwell, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Adventures in Variability: Examining How Coordination Changes Across Time”
Chandra Mueller, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology
“Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement: Findings from a new national study”
Sharon Brown, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Nursing
“Overcoming a Genetic Predisposition for Diabetes: The Starr County Border Initiative”
Theresa Jones, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology
“Neural Plasticity, Motor Learning, and Brain Damage”
Hirofumi Tanaka, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Age-related reductions in physiological functional capacity in women”
Laurence Chalip, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Policy Legitimation in Sport and the Aims of Sport Management”
Martita A Lopez, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
“Exercise and Sleep Quality in Adults”
Lisa Beesley, Ph.D., Assistant ProfessorGriffith University, Australia
“Formulating and disseminating research designed for application: Maximizing the utility of knowledge”
John Traphagan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Studies
“Being a Good Roujin: Senility, Power and Self-Actualization in Japan”
Phil Stanforth, M.S., Lecturer, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Forty Acres of FIT? Fitness Profile of Students in UT Conditioning Classes”
Jody Jensen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“The Puzzles of Motor Development”
Roger Farrar, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Designer Genes: More than Fashion”
Dan Funk, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“The psychological continuum model (PCM): A conceptual framework for understanding an individual’s psychological connection to sport”
Peter Cribb, Ph.D., Project Director for CATCH
“CATCH: A Coordinated Approach to Child Health”
Rueben McDaniel, Ed.D., Professor, McCombs School of Business
“Preventative Services in Family Practice Units”
Karen Coleman, Ph.D., Psychology Department
“Program Evaluation in El Paso: Walk El Paso!”
Milton Jamail, Lecturer, Department of Government
“Foul Ball: Inside Cuban Baseball”
Alexandra Loukas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Child and Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Examining Individual and Contextual Influences”
David Warner, Ph.D., Professor, Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs
“The Cost of Diabetes in Texas”
Jack Wilmore, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University
“The HERITAGE Family Study”
Eric Stice, Ph.D., Adjunct Associate Professor Department of Psychology
“A Dissonance-based Eating Disorder Findings at Last”
January Terry Todd, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“The Myth of Muscle Binding”
Dolly Lambdin, Ed.D., Lecturer, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“Helping Teachers COPE II”
Bob Spina, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
“The Effects of Aging and Physical Activity on Vascular Stiffness”
Waneen Spirduso, Ed.D., Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education:
“Physical Function in the Elderly”
Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
The University of Texas at Austin
2109 San Jacinto Blvd., Stop D3700
Austin, TX 78712-1415
Main Office: 512-471-1273
Fax: 512-471-8914
