Illinois has three DRES-affiliated Paralympians competing in Italy
Oksana Masters won the women’s sprint sitting event on the first day of competition at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Oksana Masters, who trains at the University of Illinois’ Disability Resources and Educational Services, took gold in the women’s biathlon sprint at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games on Saturday to earn the 20th Paralympic medal of her career and her 10th gold.
“My emotions are just pure shock—I did not expect a podium finish, to be honest, let alone a gold,” Masters told reporters. “It means the world to me. I feel like now I can kind of relax and enjoy the Games, enjoy the moment. I’m always shooting for gold, but that’s not the ultimate reason and I know it doesn’t define me. To be able to just have that gold knowing that everything went to plan, my team, my ski coach, my strength coach, everyone. I think that’s what means the most.”
Masters finished the course in a time of 21:21.3 and she added to her title as the most decorated U.S. winter Paralympian of all time.
In the men’s sitting class, Illinois alumnus Aaron Pike—who is engaged to Masters—finished sixth.
In Sunday’s competition, Masters placed fourth in the in the women’s sitting individual biathlon, while Pike finished fourth in the men’s sitting class.
From left, Wendy Rogers, Raksha Mudar, Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler, Lynne Barnes and Cathy Emanuel (Photo by Carrie Wennerdahl)
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign gathered Thursday to explore a strategic partnership with Advocates for Aging Care (AAC), a local grassroots organization working to bring an innovative skilled nursing facility to Champaign County.
The workshop brought together university faculty, clinicians and leaders to begin shaping how research, education and clinical practice could align to strengthen person-directed aging care.
The guest speaker was Susan Ryan, CEO of Maryland-based AgingIN, whose Green House model is a finalist for the project.
Building an Innovative Model for Skilled Nursing Care
The overarching goal is to establish The Cottages as a quality, person-directed skilled nursing setting inspired by the Green House model. Through collaboration with the university, project leaders aim to embed research into practice, pilot new technologies and create hands-on educational opportunities for students across disciplines.
The long-term vision is for The Cottages to serve as a flagship model for Illinois and the nation—distinguished not only by its design, but by its integration with a leading research university and its strengths in aging research, technology, design and education.
Turning Shared Interests into Action
The workshop was designed to generate potential models for collaboration based on the mutual needs of university researchers, clinicians, educators and students, as well as residents, families, caregivers and staff at The Cottages. Insights gathered during the session will inform the formation of working groups to advance the partnership.
“AAC is pleased to welcome researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as we identify new ways to advance person-directed skilled nursing care,” said AAC Steering Committee Chair Cathy Emanuel. “This unique Green House model can be strengthened by applying the latest research in aging technology, safety, environmental design, and innovative care practices. By partnering with the university, we aim to create a truly distinctive, high-quality care environment grounded in leading-edge research.”
Broad University Engagement
Interest across campus has been strong.
“We have been impressed by the level of enthusiasm we have seen as we organized this event,” said Wendy Rogers and Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “Nearly 100 have already expressed interest in being engaged with The Cottages. They represent a broad spectrum of areas, including The Grainger College of Engineering, the College of Applied Health Sciences, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Social Work, the College of Media, the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute, the Beckman Institute, Illinois Extension and UIC Nursing. We expect a long and fruitful relationship with Advocates for Aging Care, AgingIN, and The Cottages.”
Project leaders hope the Champaign County location will become a destination site for organizations seeking to implement innovative skilled nursing models—recognized not only for its Green House–inspired design, but also for its deep integration with university research, education and community engagement.
Additional details about construction timelines and future collaborative initiatives will be shared as planning progresses.
Faculty, students and staff engaged in a spirited game of wheelchair football during Adaptive Rec Day (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
It wasn’t even 11 a.m. and Gym 2 at the Activities and Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was already buzzing.
Illinois’ first annual Adaptive Rec Day had just begun, drawing students, faculty and staff. Inside the gym, sport wheelchairs gleamed beneath the lights. Basketballs and footballs echoed across hardwood. At center court, members of Illinois’ wheelchair athletics teams smiled, ready to welcome newcomers with open arms.
Illinois’ Campus Recreation held the inaugural Adaptive Rec Day as a way to celebrate the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association’s (NIRSA) Recreational Sports and Fitness Day.
Developed by Recreation, Sport and Tourism graduate student Noah Eckelberg, students got the opportunity to learn about adaptive sports and recreation while competing alongside Illinois’ wheelchair athletes. Students enrolled in RST courses Community Planning and Engagement and Inclusive by Design also participated in the day’s scrimmages.
Campus Recreation was awarded $16,168 as part of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC) 2025 Direct Effect 2nd Cycle. The funding was used to put on the event and purchase adaptive recreation equipment, including harnesses for the climbing wall, hand cycles that will be available at the Campus Bike Center and adaptive sleds for use at the Ice Arena, said Alex Williamson, associate director of marketing-programming at Campus Recreation, as well as body-weight straps and a boccia ball set that can be checked out during open recreation.
Martrell Stevens, a Recreation, Sport and Tourism major and captain of the Illini men’s wheelchair basketball team, spun lightly in his chair, greeting a student who had never seen a sport wheelchair up close.
“This is a really, cool experience and an opportunity to just teach other people about adaptive athletics, and not just wheelchair basketball, but all the different sport there is to know,” Stevens said, gesturing toward courts set up for wheelchair basketball, football and volleyball.
“Growing up playing wheelchair basketball has changed my life so much. It’s allowed me to meet the best friends of my life who are going to be in my life for a very long time. It’s allowed me to travel, see the world. It’s allowed me to go to college. If I can teach other people about the sport, and they can teach other people, we can spread awareness and get as many people as possible playing adaptive athletics so they can have the same similar opportunity as me growing up.”
Paralympic medalist Susannah Scaroni nodded vigorously. Scaroni, whose racing career has taken her from campus tracks to the world stage as the defending champ of the Boston, New York and Chicago Marathons, leaned into the question about what an Adaptive Rec Day could teach people.
“Man, I agree with that,” she said with a grin. “And I’d just say we want to change perceptions to be what is right. We just want people to know what recreation sport is, and sport is, and disabled sport—as oxymoronic as that sounds—people learn hands-on.”
And that was exactly what was happening.
Some faculty and staff climbed into a sport chair for the first time, wobbling before finding balance. Students experimented with the wheels, marveling at the speed. Laughter broke out as people discovered just how much upper-body strength the sports demanded.
Mak Nong, a former captain of the Illini wheelchair basketball team and now program manager for Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA) in Lake Forest, Illinois, talked to a crowd gathered after the sport demonstrations were done. His tone carried both urgency and excitement.
Being physically active, moving, it’s what the College of Applied Health Sciences is all about: wellness across the lifespan.”
Jean Driscoll
Paralympic medalist and associate dean of advancement, College of Applied Health Sciences
“I think just for you guys, just really understanding that you’re at a point in time where adaptive sports is in a frying pan right now,” he said. “It can jump off at any second and you guys can trail blaze that. Please use the people that came before you to help you champion that and continue to grow these different opportunities.
“… there’s so many different things that you guys can grow adaptive sports, whether it’s (Name, Image and Likeness) deals for intercollegiate sports, the different equipment that the athletes will eventually use. The sky’s the limit for you guys. And I’m so excited to see what you guys do with this.”
In the gym, Paralympic multi-medalist Jean Driscoll watched as people navigated their chairs, some for the first time, in competition. A legend in wheelchair racing and a longtime advocate for adaptive athletics, Driscoll smiled at the sight of recreation in its purest form.
“Well, I know this is Rec Day,” she said when asked what the event meant to her. “And we all took sport beyond recreation, and we’re elite-level athletes. But I think to Susannah’s point, recreation is the name of the game. Being physically active, moving, it’s what the College of Applied Health Sciences is all about: wellness across the lifespan.”
She gestured toward the swirl of activity.
Women’s wheelchair basketball coach Stephanie Wheeler, left, and Paralympic medalists Jean Driscoll, center, and Susannah Scaroni took part in Adaptive Rec Day (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
“And so being active some way, you don’t have to be a superhero every day. Just do things for yourself, what makes you happy. For us, training makes us happy. But you can do it for fun too. And if you do it for fun, if you’re having fun, you’ll keep doing it. And that’s really what’s important.”
For Illinois women’s wheelchair basketball coach Stephanie Wheeler, the event was also an opportunity to quash some misconceptions about adaptive sports.
“I would say the biggest misconception that we have is it’s not physical or that it’s not real sport,” Wheeler said. “I think that’s what we try to do here at U. of I. is introduce wheelchair basketball, wheelchair racing, whatever sports it might be as a sport. I think that’s the biggest misconception is that it’s not a sport, that it’s not hard, it doesn’t require skill because we are disabled, that anybody can play, and that anybody can be good. I think what that aligns with is the way we think about disability in society.
“It’s not necessarily a positive representation. Whenever we’re encountered with that, we always say come to a game come to a practice because as soon as you see it, you’ll fully understand that skill is required. It’s physical. It’s fast. It’s fun. Just coming to watch it, I think, kind of washes that away pretty quickly.”
Near the end of the event, Nong—who played professional wheelchair basketball in Europe—addressed the crowd, mostly composed of students.
“What I love the most about today is that it has been led by quite a few of our student athletes. And so shout out to all of our student athletes who have played a huge role in making today happen,” he said. “And that’s really important to us because in our program, one of our biggest founding philosophies is that we pay it forward.”
As the final basketballs and footballs were rolled away and chairs lined neatly along the wall, the energy in the ARC felt less like an ending and more like a starting line.
Illinois’ first annual Adaptive Rec Day had been about t-shirts and snacks. But it had also been about perception, possibility and paying it forward.
And if the laughter, shouting and spinning wheels were any indication, this was only the beginning.
CAHME Announces the Initial Accreditation of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Master of Health Administration
Lynne Barnes is director of the MHA program and a longtime healthcare executive.
The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) Board of Directors approved the initial accreditation of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Applied Health Sciences’ Master of Health Administration for a four-year term.
The accreditation affirms that the Illinois MHA program meets CAHME’s high standards for healthcare management education and demonstrates a strong commitment to academic excellence, professional preparation and continuous improvement.
“We are pleased to have the recognition of the premier accrediting body for master’s degrees in health administration,” said Lynne Barnes, clinical professor and director of the MHA program and a longtime healthcare administrator. “The requirements are rigorous and further strengthen the quality of education and number of opportunities that we are providing for our students. This distinction will allow us to continue to attract top students from across the country and internationally.”
The four-year term of accreditation marks a significant milestone for the Illinois MHA program and reinforces its commitment to educating the next generation of healthcare leaders. An online MHA degree program will launch in 2026, along with several graduate certificates that will enhance specialized training in the field.
Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences—where the MHA program is housed in the Department of Health and Kinesiology—emphasized the significance of the milestone for the university and its students.
“This accreditation reflects the dedication and collaboration of our faculty and staff in building a curriculum that prepares graduates to become highly effective healthcare management professionals,” Hanley-Maxwell said. “Our mission is to equip students with the leadership skills, analytical expertise, and ethical foundation necessary to improve healthcare delivery systems and advance health outcomes in Illinois and beyond.”
CAHME accreditation is widely recognized as the benchmark of quality in graduate healthcare management education. Programs that earn accreditation undergo an extensive self-study process and peer review to ensure alignment with standards designed to prepare graduates for leadership roles in healthcare organizations.
“CAHME’s mission is to advance the quality of healthcare management education,” said Al Faber, interim president and CEO of CAHME. “CAHME-accredited programs have successfully navigated a complex and careful accreditation process managed by experts in the study and practice of healthcare management. The program meets the rigorous standards set by leading academicians and practitioners who are experts in their fields.”
By the time children in Pelotas, Brazil, reached their first day of school, some had already been influenced by decisions made years earlier—at the family table
Study co-authors Thayna Flores, left, and Pedro Hallal. (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
A new analysis from the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort suggests that dietary patterns at just two years of age are associated with cognitive performance at ages six and seven. The findings add to growing global evidence that early childhood nutrition—particularly exposure to ultraprocessed foods—may play a meaningful role in shaping brain development.
The Pelotas Birth Cohort is one of the most comprehensive long-running population studies in Latin America, following thousands of children from birth. Researchers from the University of Illinois and the Federal University of Pelotas collected detailed information on what children were eating at age two and later assessed their cognitive performance once they reached early school age.
Rather than focusing on individual foods or nutrients, the research team examined overall dietary patterns. Using principal component analysis, a statistical method that identifies common combinations of foods, they identified two dominant patterns among toddlers in the cohort. One, labeled “healthy,” included beans, fruits, vegetables, baby foods and natural fruit juices. The other, labeled “unhealthy,” was characterized by snacks, instant noodles, sweet biscuits, candies, soft drinks, sausages and processed meats.
Children who more closely adhered to the unhealthy dietary pattern at age two scored lower on IQ tests at ages six to seven. The association remained even after accounting for a wide range of social, economic, and family factors that could influence cognitive development.
“The covariates were identified as potential confounding factors based on a literature review and the construction of a directed acyclic graph,” said Thayna Flores, an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois and one of the study’s authors. “The analyses were adjusted for child’s sex, maternal age, maternal schooling, maternal work, maternal depression, family structure, parental relationship, socioeconomic status, number of people in the household, number of older siblings, preschool, score of stimulation, duration of exclusive breastfeeding and food introduction before 6 months.”
Some factors often raised in debates about child cognition—such as parental IQ—were not included, largely because they were not measured in the cohort. However, Flores noted that the study did incorporate proxies for the home learning environment. “We didn’t measure the parental IQ, but home stimulation and early childhood education were both used in our adjustments,” she said.
Despite established guidelines, consumption of ultraprocessed foods is already common at this age.
Thayna Flores
Assistant Professor, Department of Health and Kinesiology
One of the study’s more surprising findings was what it did not show. The healthy dietary pattern was not associated with higher IQ scores. Rather than undermining the importance of fruits and vegetables, Flores said the result reflects how common these foods already were in the sample.
“The lack of association observed for the healthy dietary pattern can be largely explained by its lower variability,” she said. “Approximately 92% of children habitually consumed four or more of the foods that characterize the healthy pattern.” When nearly everyone is eating similarly, statistical differences become harder to detect, she said.
Where the results became especially concerning was among children who were already biologically vulnerable. The negative association between unhealthy diets and cognitive performance was stronger in children who had early-life deficits in weight, height, or head circumference.
“According to the literature, children with a deficit in height and head circumference from birth to the first year of life were more likely to be classified as having a low IQ,” Flores said. “Other studies suggest that insufficient growth before age two is related to impaired cognitive development.”
This pattern points to what researchers call cumulative disadvantage: when biological vulnerability and environmental exposures—like poor diet quality—interact to produce worse outcomes than either would alone.
The study did not directly test biological mechanisms, but Flores said existing research offers plausible explanations. “Diets of poor nutritional quality, particularly those high in ultraprocessed foods, may interfere with neurodevelopmental processes through mechanisms involving systemic inflammation, oxidative stress and alterations in the gut–brain axis,” she said.
‘We need to consider the rise in ultraprocessed foods,’ said Thayna Flores. (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
The researchers, who also included study co-author HK Professor Pedro Hallal—who came to the University of Illinois after a long stint at Pelotas—also examined whether breastfeeding and the timing of complementary feeding influenced the results. Both were included as confounders, and exploratory analyses looked for interactions.
“We identified that the association between adherence to unhealthy dietary patterns and IQ scores was significantly modified by the presence of early-life deficits,” Flores said. “No evidence of effect modification by sex, birth weight, gestational age, or duration of exclusive breastfeeding was found.”
Although the study is based in southern Brazil, its implications may extend far beyond Pelotas. Ultraprocessed foods are now common in early childhood diets worldwide, including in high-income countries.
“The longitudinal design, high follow-up rates and the large sample size strengthen the study,” Flores said. “While direct comparison should be made with caution, our findings are informative and can generate hypotheses for studies conducted in high-income countries,” such as the United States.
Whether similar effects would be seen in countries with greater food fortification or different health systems remains an open question. Still, Flores believes the core message is broadly relevant. “Considering the worldwide dissemination and higher prevalence of ultraprocessed foods, I think so,” she said when asked whether similar patterns might emerge elsewhere.
For policymakers, the findings carry clear implications. In Brazil, infant and young child feeding guidance is already part of primary health care, but Flores said the study highlights a gap between recommendations and reality.
“Our results reinforce the importance of strengthening counseling during routine child health visits, emphasizing the need to limit the habitual offer of ultraprocessed and unhealthy foods,” she said. “Despite established guidelines, consumption of ultraprocessed foods is already common at this age.”
Flores said public health efforts should focus on promoting healthy foods and reducing the emphasis on unhealth ones, but timing matters. “We need to consider the rise in ultraprocessed foods,” she said. “Stronger actions now can help prevent these foods, especially in early childhood.”
The Pelotas study is not the final word on diet and cognition. Researchers are now collecting more detailed dietary data as cohort members reach adolescence, opening the door to stronger causal analyses and a better understanding of long-term effects. Still, the takeaway is difficult to ignore. Long before report cards and standardized tests, children may already be accumulating advantages—or disadvantages—based on what is offered to them at the age of two. In a world where ultraprocessed foods are cheap, convenient and heavily marketed, the study suggests that early dietary choices may quietly shape how children learn, think and thrive years later.
Study from AHS researchers links stress to gut inflammation via adrenergic oxidative pathways
Jacob Allen, left, with study co-author Elisa Caetano-Silva, said data suggest that stress makes the gut environment more fragile. (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
For decades, patients with inflammatory bowel disease have reported a familiar and frustrating pattern: periods of intense stress are often followed by worsening symptoms or full-blown disease flares. Clinicians have observed the same phenomenon, yet the biological explanation has remained elusive—leaving stress dismissed by some as subjective, anecdotal or “all in the head.”
A new study is helping to change that narrative. Researchers from the University of Illinois have identified a biological pathway by which social stress can worsen colitis, linking psychological experience to measurable damage in the gut itself. Their findings show that stress activates β-adrenergic signaling in the intestine, triggering oxidative stress that weakens the gut lining and intensifies inflammation.
“Clinicians have long noticed that highly stressful events—death in the family, major life events, chronic life stress—often precede worsening symptoms and flares in patients with inflammatory bowel disease,” said one of the study’s authors, Jacob Allen, an associate professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology in the College of Applied Health Sciences. “Our findings uncover potential physiological mechanisms for how stress can translate into changes in the gut that make IBD worse.”
Stress is known to activate the sympathetic nervous system—the body’s “fight-or-flight” response—leading to the release of catecholamines such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. These hormones prepare the heart, lungs and muscles for rapid action. What has been less clear is how they affect the gastrointestinal tract.
The researchers found that during social stress, these stress hormones rise not just in the bloodstream but locally within gut tissue itself. “What we found is that in response to social stress, these hormones are increased locally in the gut,” Allen said. “These stress signals can directly affect the gut lining … leading to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), also known as free radicals.”
Reactive oxygen species are chemically reactive molecules that can damage cells if not tightly regulated. In this case, the study identified a specific ROS-producing pathway involving a protein called DUOX2. Excessive ROS weakened the intestinal epithelial barrier—the protective lining that keeps bacteria and toxins from leaking into underlying tissue—making the gut more inflamed and fragile.
“Overall, our data suggest that stress makes the gut environment more inflammatory and more fragile,” Allen said, adding that ROS signaling may be a “proximal trigger for why stress increases IBD flare risk.”
Importantly, the study suggests that stress does more than worsen existing inflammation. It may also prepare—or “prime”—the gut for future disease activity.
“Yes, stress clearly worsens ongoing inflammation,” said Elisa Caetano-Silva, a co-author of the study and a senior research scientist in Allen’s Integrative Microbiota & Physiology lab. “But interestingly, we also found evidence that stress-induced changes in the gut can precede active disease, priming the tissue to respond more strongly to later insults.”
Stress can ‘set the stage’ for a flare by making the gut more vulnerable, even before symptoms appear.
Elisa Caetano-Silva
Senior research scientist
This insight may help explain why patients sometimes experience flares weeks or months after stressful events, even if symptoms were initially absent. Stress, the researchers argue, can quietly reshape epithelial biology and redox signaling, increasing vulnerability long before inflammation becomes clinically obvious.
“In other words,” Caetano-Silva said, “stress can ‘set the stage’ for a flare by making the gut more vulnerable, even before symptoms appear.”
Rather than using physical stressors such as pain or restraint, the researchers focused on social stress—an experimental model that mimics psychological stressors relevant to human experience.
“We chose social stress because it strongly activates adrenergic signaling … which is very relevant to certain types of human psychological stress,” Allen said, including conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Stress is often framed primarily as a cortisol problem, linked to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis. But in this study, blocking cortisol signaling did not prevent stress-induced worsening of colitis. Blocking β-adrenergic signaling, however, did.
“In this model and in this context, adrenergic signaling appears to be the dominant driver of stress-induced worsening of gut inflammation,” Allen said, while emphasizing that cortisol is not irrelevant in all settings.
One of the most striking findings was that inhibiting oxidative stress itself could blunt the harmful effects of stress. A compound called apocynin, which limits ROS production, significantly reduced stress-related disease severity in mice.
“We were especially excited by how well a ROS-targeting compound worked in limiting stress-induced worsening of IBD,” Allen said. “Whether this translates to humans is a critical next question … but it’s promising.”
The work also raises—but does not answer—questions about existing drugs. Because β-adrenergic signaling was central to disease worsening, could medications like β-blockers play a role in IBD care?
“Potentially … but we need to be careful,” Allen cautioned. “It’s too early to recommend β-blockers for IBD management” without controlled human studies examining safety, timing, and patient subgroups.
Allen and Caetano-Silva were equally clear about what patients should not take away. “I would caution patients not to interpret this as: ‘Just take a beta-blocker and your IBD will improve,’” Allen said. “IBD is complex, and it’s unlikely that one intervention will solve everything.”
Elisa Caetano-Silva is a senior research scientist in Jacob Allen’s Integrative Microbiota & Physiology lab. (Photo by Ethan Simmons)
The study also challenges how medicine talks about stress itself. Too often, stress is framed as a personal failing or a psychological weakness. This research pushes back against that framing.
“It supports the idea that stress isn’t ‘just in your head,’” Allen said. “It can create measurable biological changes that affect gut physiology and immune responses.”
By identifying specific pathways—adrenergic signaling, epithelial oxidative stress and barrier dysfunction—the work reframes stress as a biological factor that can be studied, measured, and potentially treated.
Looking ahead, the researchers envision a more integrated future for IBD care. “I don’t think IBD will ever be treated by one drug,” Allen said. “But the future is more holistic and personalized care—combining immune-targeting therapies, strategies to strengthen gut barrier function, microbiome-targeted interventions and approaches that reduce stress-driven inflammation.”
If that future arrives, patients’ long-standing intuition—that stress matters—may finally be matched by equally strong biological evidence.
Huff Hall today, left, and the building in 1924. (Photo illustration by Michelle Hassell).
By Anna Flanagan
Many people still think of the home of the College of Applied Health Sciences as Huff Gym. The building opened in 1925 as the New Gymnasium, giving the University of Illinois men’s basketball team what was then state-of-the-art facilities for home games. Renamed for longtime athletic director and coach George Huff in 1936 after his death, Huff Gym later became Huff Hall to better reflect its significant role in the academic life of the university.
The four hallways on the first floor of the building surround the gym, which is still used for volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics events. But faculty associated with Huff have cemented its scholarly reputation as the site of pioneering research and groundbreaking advancements in health and leisure studies.
The Father of Physical Fitness
The early academics residing in Huff Gym were the faculty of the School of Physical Education. They included Seward Staley, who served as director and dean from 1936 to 1960. Staley was a strong advocate of building physical education programs around a sport-based curriculum and conducted extensive research on physical education and sport throughout his career. He guided the School of Physical Education to prominence as a leader in health-related research.
Staley’s own commitment to research-based practice influenced his faculty recruitment. In 1941, Thomas “T.K.” Cureton, known as the “father of physical fitness,” joined the School of Physical Education. He established the Physical Fitness Research Laboratory in Huff Hall, one of the first of its kind in the nation. He conducted cutting-edge research on what he called the six primary components of physical fitness—endurance, flexibility, agility, strength, power and balance—and revolutionized existing knowledge about weight and fitness, oxygen’s role in athletic performance and the role of exercise in cardiovascular health, among other things.
As Jack Berryman, then the official historian of the American College of Sports Medicine, observed in a 1996 article in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Cureton was the only fitness enthusiast of the 1950s (a group that included Charles Atlas and Jack LaLanne) “who produced the research to substantiate his beliefs regarding the positive influence of physical activity on health.” Cureton’s work helped to elevate the reputation of physical education and led to the establishment of research labs in departments across the country.
In addition to the hundreds of journal articles, books and research monographs published during his career, Cureton shared his beliefs widely through numerous lectures around the world, called Cureton Clinics, and frequent appearances in magazine and newspaper articles and on television programs focused on health and fitness. His son, Kirk Cureton, who himself had a long and distinguished career in kinesiology at the University of Georgia, said he wasn’t aware of his father’s reputation in the field of physical fitness science as a child. He participated in the Sports Fitness Experimental School that his father established in 1950 to improve the physical fitness of youth, still running today as the Sports Fitness Program, and recalls going to his father’s lab where Cureton and his graduate students assessed such things as cardiovascular health and muscle endurance.
Kirk Cureton’s knowledge of his father’s stature grew as he did, and he feels it played a positive role as he established his own career.
“My father was known, and it helped me with networking,” he said, adding that TK was “a good model.”
“What I learned from him was persistence and the value of hard work,” Cureton said. “He was devoted to his field. He loved what he did. He thought working at a university was the best thing you could do.”
Poised for the future
Many outstanding scholars walked the halls of Huff as the School of Physical Education evolved into the College of Applied Health Sciences. They established the first driver education teacher training program in the Midwest, created the first K-12 sex education curriculum that was adopted throughout the country, conducted a groundbreaking study on driving and alcohol consumption that resulted in the lowering of the DUI threshold from .15 to .10, conducted a comprehensive anti-smoking education study of youth that resulted in the first academic contribution to the annual Surgeon General’s Report on smoking and health, and put sport psychology on the map as a legitimate academic discipline, among many other contributions.
T.K. Cureton was ‘devoted to his field,’ his son Kirk said. (University of Illinois Archives)
“Our current faculty engages in research that, in a lot of ways, wouldn’t have been possible without Cureton and the other pioneers,” she said. “We still focus on issues related to physical fitness and health, cardiovascular health, for example, which was so important in Cureton’s work. But we have developed a more discipline-focused approach, looking at biomechanics, exercise physiology, brain health or exercise psychology, and so much more.”
Graber noted that while the department has expanded far beyond its early focus on training school health educators, teacher training is still an important part of its mission as evidenced by its Physical Education Teaching Licensure program. Huff Hall is still an important hub for the department, she said, serving as the home of its three professional degree programs—Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Health Administration (MHA) and Master of Science in Health Technology (MS-HT). Many health and kinesiology faculty have their offices and laboratories in Huff, where they are addressing current and emerging health challenges such as the role of technology in successful aging, gut health and chronic disease in underrepresented populations.
“Our research is cutting edge,” Graber said. “It’s innovative. It’s futuristic. We’re in a good position to tackle the problems of the next generation.”
Giants of recreation and leisure
Huff Hall also is the home of the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, which had its beginnings in the Department of Physical Education for Women. That department, which included recreation in its curriculum, joined the Department of Physical Education for Men to form the School of Physical Education. The School began offering a bachelor of science degree in recreation in 1948, thanks to the efforts of Allen Sapora. The curriculum he developed became a model for programs around the country. Sapora believed strongly in the importance of applied research and was one of the first scholars to integrate research into recreation education and professional practice.
Charles Brightbill joined the Illinois faculty as a professor of recreation in 1951 and, working together with Sapora, built the program into one of the leading park and recreation education programs in the world. Brightbill had a well-established national reputation in the field of recreation by the time he joined the Illinois faculty, having served as the executive secretary of President Harry Truman’s Committee on Religion and Welfare in the Armed Forces, among other positions. In 1957, he became the inaugural head of the Department of Recreation, which was created when the School of Physical Education was reorganized and renamed the College of Physical Education. His advocacy of cooperation between citizens and professionals in the parks and recreation field played a significant role in the formation of the National Recreation and Park Association.
After Brightbill’s death, Sapora served as department head and created the Office of Recreation and Park Resources in partnership with University of Illinois Extension. He hired Joseph Bannon, who had completed his master’s degree in recreation at Illinois, to lead the new initiative. Like Sapora, Bannon firmly believed that practice in the parks and recreation field needed to be informed by scientific research, and that research needed to address real world issues. His own research focused on the development of recreation organizations. Laura Payne, professor of recreation, sport and tourism and Joseph J. Bannon Director of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources, said Bannon’s contributions are still relevant today.
Charles Brightbill, left, and Allen Sapora, right front, were pivotal to the establishment of what is now known as the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism. (University of Illinois Archives)
“He was the expert nationally and internationally in public parks and recreation organizational development, leadership, management and administration,” she said. “His work addressed policy and practice, and how organizations relate to one another.”
Bannon, who became head of what was then the Department of Leisure Studies in 1973, was instrumental in strengthening the interdisciplinary nature of the department’s research, hiring faculty with backgrounds in such fields as psychology and sociology. He was a co-founding editor of the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration and, along with Allen Sapora, a founding Fellow of The Academy of Leisure Sciences, or TALS. Fellowship in TALS is a prestigious honor, one that many RST faculty and PhD graduates have earned since the organization’s founding in 1980. Among them are John “Jack” Kelly and Lynn Barnett, also giants in the field of leisure studies.
Kelly, in fact, played an instrumental role in establishing the field of leisure studies. He believed that knowledge of leisure theory would help practitioners make informed decisions and design more relevant and effective programs. He wrote the first textbook in the field of leisure studies, appropriately entitled Leisure, and encouraged scholars to address the sociological and psychological aspects of leisure.
“Jack Kelly is a legend in our field,” Payne said. “He was ahead of the curve on many societal issues and trends in the 1970s and early ‘80s, anticipating and working on healthy aging, work and leisure, socialization and leisure and family leisure. He really catapulted us forward by making our research more relevant and increasing our visibility to people outside of parks, recreation, sports, tourism and leisure studies.”
Barnett studied the role of play and playfulness in the lives of children and adults for more than 40 years. As a doctoral student in educational psychology, she became convinced that children learned as much or more outside of the classroom as they did within it. Over the years, she found that playfulness is a fairly stable construct that is related to cognitive and socioemotional functioning. Her research showed that playfulness was linked to flexibility in thinking, enjoyment, positivity, and social skill, and that it was often used to cope with anxiety.
“Lynn brought education, human development and play together in a way that hadn’t been done before,” said Monika Stodolska, Brightbill/Sapora Professor and associate head of recreation, sport and tourism. “She inspired generations of scholars, students and practitioners to look at play as being integral to learning, and socioemotional, physical, and cognitive development.”
The commitment remains
Scholars in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism continue to believe in practice-based research and research-based practice. RST faculty still examine leisure’s role in the healthy development of individuals, families and communities, focusing on such contemporary issues as the role of sport in human and community development, equity in access to parks and green spaces and how social, cultural, environmental and political factors affect tourists and host communities. As RST professor and department head Carla Santos put it, “We keep our ears to the ground, listening and observing and staying connected to what’s going on in recreation, sport and tourism in order to be responsive to needs and priorities. That has been true of this department throughout the nearly 70 years we’ve been in Huff Hall.”
The College of Applied Health Sciences has grown beyond the walls of Huff, now also occupying Freer Hall and the Speech and Hearing Science Building. But one hundred years after its opening, Huff Hall remains the nerve center of AHS, and that’s just fine by Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of AHS.
“With the addition of the Khan Annex and modernization of instructional spaces, Huff wears its age well and is a comfortable academic home,” she said. “It’s a campus landmark and I’m proud that it’s the heart of AHS. But in the end, what really makes a building special are the people who work within it, our students, faculty and staff. We are blessed in AHS to have exceptional students, creative and dedicated faculty and skilled and supportive staff. I’m proud of all of them.”
Assistant Professor Meaghan McKenna won the 2025 ASHA Early Career Contributions in Research Award. (Provided)
The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) held the 2025 ASHA Convention from Nov. 20–22 in Washington, D.C.
Our Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Illinois was well-represented: several SHS faculty and graduate students were in attendance to accept awards and present seminars on their research and teaching contributions.
SHS faculty and students’ ASHA Awards
Assistant Professor Meaghan McKenna is being awarded the 2025 ASHA Early Career Contributions in Research Award
Ph.D. student Tracy Preza is being awarded an ASHFoundation Student Research Grant in Early Childhood Language Development
Ph.D. student Eliza Baby and mentor Professor Raksha Mudar are being awarded a Research Mentoring-Pair Travel Award
Ph.D. student Daniela Fanta Alarco is selected for the ASHA Student Leadership Program
M.A. student Raina Harpalani is being awarded an ASHFoundation Graduate Scholarship
SHS faculty and students’ talks
Thursday, Nov. 20
12:30 p.m.—Poster: “Examining the Effectiveness and Feasibility of a WebBased First Grade Writing Intervention” McKenna, M. Location: CC/Poster (Hall D); Screen #: 134
4:30 p.m.—Poster: “Measuring Functional Communication in Mild Cognitive Impairment” Lydon, E., Wallace, N., Mudar, R. Location: CC/Poster (Hall D); Screen #: 134
6 p.m.—One-hour seminar (Invited): “The Speech Accessibility Project: Reflections on Technological Innovation & Visions for Communication Empowerment” Mendes, C. Location: CC/151B (Lvl 1)
Friday, Nov. 21
8 a.m.—One-hour seminar: “Building on Legacy, Transforming Practice: Tools to Support SLP Engagement with Multi-Tiered Systems of Support” Sylvan, L., McKenna, M., Ireland, M. Location: CC/202A (Lvl 2)
11 a.m.—One-hour seminar: “Imitation and Lexical Overlap in Toddlers with Language Delays: Automated Coding and Sequential Analysis” Harrington, E., Hadley, P. Location: Marr/Independence Salon F/G/H (Mtg Lvl 4, LL)
1:30 p.m.—One-hour seminar (Invited): “Research Symposium on Hearing: The Utility of Extended High-Frequency Hearing and Assessment for Speech Communication” Monson, B., Calandruccio, L. Location: CC/151B (Lvl 1)
5:30 p.m.—Technical/Research Presentation: “Practice improvement in swallowing management: Using skill-based training in hospitalized post-stroke patients with dysphagia” Bahia, M.M., Rogers, K., Carpenter, J., Cherney, L.R. Location: Marr/Liberty Salon K (Mtg Lvl 4, LL)
Speech and Hearing Science faculty and students gathered at this year’s ASHA conference. (Provided)
Saturday, Nov. 22
11 a.m.—One-hour seminar: “Addressing Elementary Writing When Delivering Intervention: Preparing Young Children for Success in School and Life” McKenna, M. Location: CC/204B (Lvl 2) ** Designated as a Centennial Session!
For Dan Bernstein and Alex Roux, the University of Illinois was more than just a place to study—it was the setting for a friendship that would shape their student years and ripple into their careers
Alex Roux (Photo provided)
Both arrived on campus passionate about Illini sports, uncertain of exactly where their paths might lead. What they discovered together in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism was a sense of community, mentorship and shared ambition that defined their time at Illinois.
Roux, a Champaign native, was steeped in Illini culture. “I grew up in Champaign-Urbana as an Illini fan and high school athlete, and when I realized my athletic dreams of competing in college would fall (way) short, I wanted to stay connected to the sports world professionally,” he said. “The RST program stood out as my lane to remain close to the athletic programs I grew up cheering for.”
Bernstein, meanwhile, came from Glenview, a northern suburb of Chicago. A lifelong Illini basketball fan who idolized the 2004–05 team, he initially enrolled as a psychology major. But as his friendship with Roux deepened, his focus shifted. “After becoming close friends with Alex and given my passion for sports and interest in marketing, I transferred into RST during my sophomore year.”
Their friendship began in the residence halls. Roux’s roommate at Bromley Hall had been one of Bernstein’s high school friends, creating a natural introduction. Roux remembered noticing Bernstein early on in class: “I recognized Dan on one of our first days of class freshman year because he frequently wore Illinois gear, so we struck up some initial conversations about Illini sports. Once I realized he ‘knew ball’ and I could talk sports at length with him, our friendship took off from there.”
Bernstein echoed that sentiment with his characteristic humor: “It was ‘close friends at first sight.’ Kidding … In reality, we bonded quickly because Alex knew so much about Illinois sports and sports in general. We also shared the same questionable taste in Burnett’s vodka and bagged wine back then, which, at the time, felt like the perfect foundation for friendship.”
What began as hallway conversations grew into years of shared experiences. They were roommates for three of their four years, sat together in RST classes, and spent countless evenings at Illini basketball games. Roux explained the impact of that constant companionship: “Having Dan around to bounce class schedules, homework assignments and ideas off of helped my development both as a student and motivationally. When he secured a coveted internship with the Philadelphia Flyers, I wanted to pursue similar high-profile opportunities in my own career.”
For Bernstein, Roux’s local ties eased the transition into campus life. “Alex being from Champaign was especially helpful for me as a freshman who was unsure of what he was getting into. Through him, I met great local friends and felt more at home.”
Both immersed themselves in campus opportunities. Roux worked at the Illinois Ticket Office throughout his undergraduate years, including alongside his grandfather, whose legacy is now honored at State Farm Center. Bernstein became deeply involved in student organizations, writing for The Daily Illini—as did Roux—and serving as vice president of Orange Krush, Illinois’ famed student cheering section. “That role was particularly meaningful—it wasn’t just about going to games, but also about learning to run a successful nonprofit that gave back to the community,” he said. “I gained hands-on experience in marketing, operations, fundraising, etc.”
Their shared academic journey was guided by faculty like Clinical Associate Professor Mike Raycraft, whom both cite as a lasting influence. Roux described him as “someone who invests his time and energy with students past and present,” while Bernstein emphasized Raycraft’s perspective that careers in sport and tourism often extend well beyond traditional roles.
After Illinois, Roux and Bernstein lived together in Chicago for three years before their paths diverged geographically. Roux launched his career at Big Ten Network in Chicago, where he has grown from entry-level social media work to management roles overseeing content, partnerships, and coverage of major events. Bernstein took a less conventional route, working at startups, Allstate, and a global pharmaceutical company before landing at Lou Malnati’s, the iconic Chicago pizza brand.
Dan Bernstein (Photo provided)
Despite different industries, both credit RST with preparing them. Roux emphasized adaptability: “RST provided a pathway to explore a wide swath of opportunities in the sports industry, which required building communication and adaptability skills that still serve me well to this day.”
Bernstein pointed to transferable business skills: “For me, it is less about hard skills and more about the business and soft skills: marketing fundamentals, organization, collaboration, and communication. In the business world, especially in marketing, those skills are what set you apart. RST gave me a strong foundation in all of them.”
Today, both men still live and work in Chicago, a city they independently described as “the best in the world.” For Roux, it’s a hub of Big Ten culture that keeps him connected to alumni. For Bernstein, it’s a city where Illinois ties run deep: “Even in a city with the largest U of I alumni base, I still find myself saying ‘ILL’ to strangers in the gym, on the street, or in a bar. There is a real bond and sense of togetherness among Illinois alumni.”
Looking back, both reflect with gratitude on the friendship that defined their student experience. Roux called Illinois “truly immeasurable” in its value, while Bernstein put it simply: “Illinois gave me lifelong friends, unforgettable experiences, and the foundation for my career.”
Their careers may have taken different directions, but their story is a reminder of what makes the RST program special: the chance to turn passion into profession—and along the way, to find a lifelong teammate.
Ron Dodd, former director of the Joliet Park District and an RST alumnus, passed away on July 31, 2025, at the age of 84.
Dodd was a leader and educator in public parks and recreation and the embodiment of a true servant leader who cared about the communities he served and was instrumental in advancing the parks and recreation profession nationally and internationally.
“Ron was everywhere volunteering for anything that needed to be done within our profession and left a positive mark wherever he went coast to coast,” said Ken Kutska, a colleague and friend.
Dodd was an innovative leader who was creative and an adept problem-solver. His talent for organizational development, operations and service delivery was crucial to the decentralization of Dallas Parks and Recreation and the Chicago Park District. These reorganizations enabled staff to be more responsive to local community needs and resulted in programs and services that more effectively met residents’ needs and interests.
Later in his career, Dodd took his talents to the Joliet Park District, where he led successful capital project initiatives such as the Inwood Ice Arena and the Inwood Sports Complex. At a time when the property tax cap in five northern Illinois counties made it more difficult to issue bonds to fund facility development and improvements, he developed a successful diversified fundraising strategy that was key to improving park district facilities.
As a testament to his commitment to advancing the field of parks and recreation, Dodd held leadership positions in both state and national parks and recreation associations. He served on the Board of Trustees for the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and was the chairman of the Illinois Park and Recreation Association and the American Academy of Park and Recreation Administration.
His leadership and contributions to the field of parks and recreation was recognized with several prestigious awards including the National Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medal, the University of St. Francis Distinguished Professional Award and the NRPA Robert M. Artz Award for advocacy and outstanding efforts in advancing the field through education and activating communities to advocate for parks and recreation at local, state or at the national level.
Dodd was born and raised in Ottawa, Illinois, where he was active in the varsity band and competed on the varsity cross country and track teams. He was a skilled model builder and built many scaled dollhouses for his daughter, granddaughters and great-granddaughter. He enjoyed sports, especially golf and bowling, and he played in bowling leagues over the years. He loved spending time with friends and family and enjoyed traveling.
Dodd attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he earned Bachelor of Science degrees in political science and physical education. Inspired by public service, he embarked on a career in public parks and recreation and later earned master’s in Leisure Studies, with a concentration in recreation and park administration from the University of Illinois-Champaign.
Dodd mentored many students and professionals throughout his career. His passion for education led him to St. Francis University, where he taught courses in the Recreation and Sport Management Program for 30 years, educating and inspiring students. James Barkeley, an alumnus of the RST M.S. and Ph.D. programs and recipient of the Ronald Dodd Scholarship for Distinguished M.S. Students in Parks and Recreation, said, “Ron impressed on me that leisure services is a noble profession and that I could succeed. His message has stayed with me as I became a full professor in sport and recreation management driven by a belief in the importance and power of leisure services and that I could make a difference.”
Dodd’s contributions to the field and impacts on others can be summed up by Jason Genck, senior manager/practice lead at BerryDunn. Genck said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ Ron’s life was a shining example of this principle. Ron has been an inspirational beacon in my life and career. Our field is better because of Ron’s tireless work in parks, recreation, volunteer service, faith, mentorship, passion, love and education.”
