A “theater kid through and through,” Haupert (RST ‘21) helps realize the artistic dreams of her community as Palatine Park District’s first-ever cultural arts manager.
In her new role at the Palatine Park District, Laney Haupert carries administrative work to keep her local arts scene running .
From an early age, Laney Haupert dreamed of working in the theater—not acting on stage, but managing her favorite productions behind the scenes.
But life took her in an unexpected direction: as Palatine Park District’s cultural arts manager, Haupert carries administrative work to keep her local arts scene running from her position in parks and recreation.
“I had this lightbulb moment: I can work in cultural arts, do theater, put up shows, serve my community, and have all the benefits of working in the public sector,” Haupert said. “Taking this job was my Hannah Montana, ‘Best of Both Worlds’ moment.”
After a stint in the creative arts and a taste of park district life, Haupert went back to school, obtaining master’s degree online from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. It gave her the tools to steer her career toward a new path.
“A master’s degree is something I always wanted to complete,” Haupert said. “Having found this program and hearing more about it, it was a great fit for where my career was at and where I saw my life going.”
Haupert is from Bartlett, Illinois, a village of 41,000 in the Chicago metro area. She grew up in community theater, starring in her local production of “The Velveteen Rabbit” when she was 8 years old. As she got older, she found more roles backstage: hanging curtains, doing makeup and building sets for local plays.
Haupert’s mother, Carrie Fullerton, always thought Haupert had the “personality for parks and recreation.” Fullerton is a two-time graduate of the RST program at Illinois and has served as executive director of the Arlington Heights Park District since 2020.
Haupert had different plans, at least at first. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Administration from Millikin University in 2018, working as director of development for the school’s student-run studio theater. But after graduating, the job prospects were dry, so she found an administrative assistant role at the Glenview Park District—and found out she loved it.
“Sometimes it takes someone who is not your parent to realize how cool this thing is, that your parent has been spoon-feeding you,” she said. “I thought parks and recreation was something I really wanted to explore further.”
You have to remember the ‘why’ of what we’re doing, and who it’s for. It’s for the little version of you who really needed this at a certain point in life.
Laney Haupert
Cultural Arts Manager, RST ’21
In February 2020, she landed a role with the Bolingbrook Park District, managing both its gymnastics and theater programs. A month in, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, all in-person events were canceled and she had a “whole lot of nothing to do.”
Haupert’s graduation cap after obtaining her online master’s degree in RST reads “Don’t forget to play.” Today, she is the Palatine Park District’s first-ever cultural arts manager. (Photo provided)
But Haupert had a clearer idea of where she wanted to take her career. She wanted more knowledge—and a degree that connected to her new industry.
The flexibility of the RST online master’s program appealed to her: “Maybe you’re a sports person and love athletics, want to be around it doing recreation management. For me, my love has always been theater and live performance,” Haupert said.
The online format made it easier for her to balance coursework and her job, completing her master’s in a year and a half. RST’s online degree gave her “structure” that she sorely needed, especially early in the pandemic. The master’s program also helped her ace the test for her Certified Parks and Recreation Professional Certification, an industry qualification.
Haupert stayed with Bolingbrook until January 2022, when she began with the Deerfield Park District as its cultural arts and special events supervisor. That experience brought her to Palatine in 2024, where she’s continued to support young artists as the park district’s first ever cultural arts manager.
She supports all manner of performances year-round: multiple choirs, a community band, theater programs and dance recitals. Her big task is to cultivate a school-of-art brand for the park district, while getting “more and more people to do cool stuff with us,” she said.
With a fresh perspective on her role, Haupert is helping to realize the artistic dreams of kids growing up in the same lane she once did.
“The most important thing that’s been a throughline for me: if you’re having fun, you never work a day in your life,” Haupert said. “You have to remember the ‘why’ of what we’re doing, and who it’s for. It’s for the little version of you who really needed this at a certain point in life.”
These three RST graduates “always knew” they’d be working together again someday
Three Recreation, Sport and Tourism alums, Eva Schmidt, Chelcia Abajian and Christine Stromberg work together through the U.S. Tennis Association. “It’s incredible to see the three of us together again.” (Photo provided)
More than a decade after their time together at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, three alumni from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism have found themselves reunited in a place far removed from campus, yet deeply connected to their shared past.
Today, Chelcie Abajian, Eva Schmidt and Christine Stromberg work together through roles connected to the U.S. Tennis Association, contributing to the operations and hospitality surrounding one of the sport’s most prestigious events: the U.S. Open in New York. Their professional reunion, however, is only part of the story. At its core lies a friendship that began during their graduate school days at Illinois and endured long before their careers converged again.
Seeing one another again in the same professional space has been both surreal and deeply meaningful.
“It’s incredible to see the three of us together again,” said Abajian, who is senior manager, conferences and events at the USTA. “Even during the years we weren’t working side-by-side, our bond never wavered.”
Some of their most vivid memories from Illinois weren’t formed in classrooms or lecture halls, but in moments of spontaneity that helped cement their friendship. All three got both their undergraduate and graduate degrees in RST.
“My favorite memory from our Illinois days is more on a personal level,” Abajian said. “Just three months after we met, we took a spontaneous trip to New York City, which was Eva’s first time ever visiting. Looking back, that was the moment we knew this friendship was for the long haul. It’s pretty remarkable that the city where we first bonded as friends is now the same place where we’re making our mark together during the U.S. Open.”
Another favorite memory comes from the final days of their time at Illinois.
“My favorite memory together at Illinois was taking our graduation pictures at Memorial Stadium,” said Schmidt, now director of premium hospitality, office of the president with the USTA. “With the help of a colleague, we were able to take pictures in the Colonnades and it was a fun way to reflect on the last two years. Today, 12 years later, it’s surreal to be working together again, but I love the camaraderie!”
Their journey from classmates to colleagues was never guaranteed, but perhaps it wasn’t entirely surprising either.
“In a way, I think we always knew,” Abajian said. “Christine and I have been a team since 2008, first as student-athletes and now as colleagues who share a love for event operations and tennis.”
That long-standing partnership eventually played a role in bringing the trio back together professionally. When Abajian joined the USTA in 2022, she quickly realized the potential of reconnecting with familiar talent.
“When I landed at the USTA in 2022—due to Christine referring me—one of my first major events was managing the president’s suite,” she said. “I called Eva because her hospitality background was the missing piece of the puzzle for our staff. Watching her move into a full-time role afterward was the ‘full-circle’ moment we’d been building toward since college.”
Another member of the group shared a similar perspective about their eventual reunion.
“Similar to Chelcie’s answer, I always knew we’d be working together again in some capacity,” Schmidt said. “Our paths were always parallel and it was only a matter of time before they intersected.”
Even so, the exact setting was a surprise.
“When we were at Illinois, if I could have predicted where we would end up, at least for me and Eva, I thought it would be in Chicago somewhere, not all living in new places,” said Stromberg, who is director of U.S. Open Player Services. “The years after graduation, following each other’s careers and supporting each other in what we were pursuing is one of the things that kept us all together.”
Their individual career paths since college have been anything but identical.
Abajian remained closely tied to athletics after completing her master’s degree, eventually transitioning into her current role with the USTA.
“I stayed in college athletics until I shifted to the USTA in 2022,” she said. “I’m not surprised by my journey. I have a love for tennis and event management and this role marries the two together.”
Schmidt said her trajectory was far less predictable.
“My career journey since college has been completely nonlinear,” she said. “Every time I thought I had a pathway, I’d pivot and go the polar opposite direction. Working at the USTA has felt the most stable so far.”
Unexpected turns ultimately became a rewarding part of the journey.
“I never thought I’d end up outside of the state of Illinois but that’s my favorite part of my career path,” she said. “I never expected any of this and I continue to surprise myself. Who knows what’s next!”
For Stromberg, tennis itself became the unexpected thread tying everything together.
“Even though I grew up as a tennis player, my original goal was not to work in tennis,” she said. “I started taking opportunities as they arose and walked through some doors that were open and found the career path that I was ultimately looking for; I just didn’t know it’s what I was looking for.”
Many of the skills they rely on today trace directly back to their student-athlete experiences and time at Illinois.
“My skills go back to being a student-athlete,” Abajian said. “Most importantly: time management. I can juggle multiple tasks, prioritize what needs to get done and work my daily life around a schedule.”
Schmidt credited her early experiences working within Illinois athletics as formative.
“I was fortunate enough to have an internship in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics as an undergrad that took me into my graduate assistantship at Illinois,” she said. “Those years were so formative and have influenced everything I’ve done.”
Accountability, Stromberg added, remains central to how she approaches leadership today.
“Similar to Chelcie, my skills go back to being a student-athlete,” she said. “In addition to what she mentioned, accountability is one of the most important things I learned and it drives how I make decisions and lead today.”
Their friendship has only strengthened as their relationship has shifted from classmates to colleagues.
“It has only grown,” Abajian said.
Working together professionally has also given them new perspectives on each other.
“It’s certainly grown and also allows us to approach things from a different perspective,” Schmidt added.
“It continues to grow every day,” Stromberg said.
One moment in particular made their shared journey feel complete.
During one U.S. Open, the three unexpectedly found themselves together in the player walk-on tunnel at Louis Armstrong Stadium during the retirement ceremony for American tennis player John Isner.
“In my first year full time with the USTA, the three of us found ourselves in the player walk-on tunnel at Louis Armstrong Stadium for John Isner’s retirement ceremony,” Schmidt said. “Each of us were there for different reasons and we had yet to organically bump into each other at the Open. We all paused and acknowledged the greatness of the moment and even took a selfie.”
Their long history together also shapes how they work.
“Having been friends since 2012, our professional partnership at the USTA is built on a decade-plus of mutual trust,” Abajian said. “This shared history allows us to solve problems with total confidence and zero hesitation. We are each other’s most reliable sounding board and always the first phone call when it’s time to get to work.”
Honesty is part of that dynamic as well.
“We aren’t afraid to tell each other the hard things,” Stromberg added. “That’s really where growth comes from.”
Looking back, each of them has advice for the younger versions of themselves who were navigating graduate school in Champaign-Urbana.
“Work hard, but work does not define you,” Abajian said. “Chill out on the perfectionism; mistakes are just proof that you’re actually out there trying things. Your worth doesn’t go up or down based on your productivity, so don’t forget to clock out and find some sun.”
Schmidt emphasized patience.
“Take a breath,” she said. “Don’t feel like you have to have your whole life figured out by 25.”
And while their professional futures may take them in different directions, one thing is certain: their friendship will remain constant.
“Our friendship comes first in our circle,” Abajian said. “We are fortunate to have each other to lean on for work and personal advice. We hope to keep growing and learning together in this organization.”
As Stromberg summed up, the next step might be uncertain, but the foundation they share is not.
“We don’t know where the professional path will take each of us,” she said. “But we know where our friendship will.”
This summertime enrichment program for local youth run by Health and Kinesiology at Illinois is back in Champaign
A day in the iPALS program provides academic enrichment, playtime, social-emotional learning and nutritious snacks. (Photo provided)
A group of Illinois physical education alumni are supporting one of the College of Applied Health Sciences’ longest-running youth programs as it returns to Champaign.
Three graduates of the former Department of Physical Education for Women at Illinois—Carolyn Bechly, Jean Snuggs and Lyndell Wilken—have pooled their resources into an endowment to help fund the Illinois Physical Activity and Life Skills program, also known as iPALS. The summer wellness program for local children is also a steppingstone for Illinois student educators to develop their skills.
“We’re hoping iPALS can be part of their practical experience, building on what they’ve learned in a classroom,” said Wilken, who graduated in 1972 and became a coach, physical educator and athletics administrator.
The eight-week iPALS program run by the Department of Health and Kinesiology in Applied Health Sciences brings in local schoolchildren every summer for a full day-camp experience, with structured playtime, academic enrichment, social-emotional learning and nutritious snacks available each day.
Beyond a summer opportunity for at-risk youth—every child participant qualifies for SNAP benefits or free-and-reduced lunch—the program doubles as a research study, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The premise of the study: to see if regular physical activity, summertime enrichment and specialized nutrition can curb “learning loss,” the regular backsliding of academic achievement that occurs over summer break. Enrollment in iPALS is completely free.
The University of Illinois has a long history of youth summer programs. iPALS was originally the “Sport Fitness” program, where physical activity was the focus. With community input from partnering local school districts, faculty leaders have developed a more balanced approach over the years, between academic and social enrichment, exercise and nutrition.
Many of the daily snacks served to iPALS kids contain lutein, a carotenoid common in leafy green vegetables that settles in our eyes and brain, supporting our eyesight and cognitive health. The iPALS participants, ages 6 to 11 years old, take fitness, academic and cognition assessments at the beginning and end of the program to measure its direct impacts.
“Given that physical activity participation is among the most robust behavioral approaches to support both physical and cognitive health, we anticipate that the iPALS program has the potential to have a meaningful impact on children in our community,” said principal investigator Naiman Khan, associate professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology.
During iPALS days, the kids move from station to station, with each stop run by Illinois graduate students. The researchers purposely use students with diverse backgrounds: nutrition majors running the snack station, education majors running academic enrichment, and physical educators structuring the playtime.
“For me, the most important aspect is that we provide a safe space for eight hours a day where kids are guaranteed meals and snacks, surrounded by adults who care about them, and they’re able to build relationships with peers experiencing similar realities,” said HK Associate Professor Kevin Richards, who researches the teaching of physical education. “That impact is difficult to capture with data, but it is the most meaningful part of the program.”
Interested families can visit the iPALS website and complete the eligibility survey to see if their child qualifies for the program. This year’s iPALS will take place at Booker T. Washington STEM Academy in Champaign on weekdays from June 3 to July 17.
Booker T. Washington STEM Academy in Champaign will be the hosting venue for this year’s iPALS program. (Champaign Unit 4)
A Motivated Donation
Illinois alumnae Carolyn Bechly, Lyndell Wilken and Jean Snuggs on a trip to Alaska. The three graduated from Illinois Department of Physical Education for Women just as Title IX took effect. (Photo provided)
The teaching experience available in the iPALS program mirrors the student teaching opportunities that were available to prior generations of Illinois physical education majors. Months after the passage of landmark Title IX legislation in 1972, the Illinois departments of Physical Education for men and women were fused, just as Bechly, Wilken and Snuggs happened to embark on their careers.
Under Title IX, every education program that received federal funding had to ensure equal access for students regardless of sex. Schools nationwide had an imperative to start girls’ sports teams, and a dire need for coaches. Some states, including Illinois, mandated that coaching slots be filled by women.
Suddenly, these new Illinois physical education graduates had their work cut out for them.
“It was an amazing time, and busy,” Wilken said. “The opportunities were huge, also the workload you sustained, because you were a full-time teacher and you weren’t given anything extra for coaching—just the love of sport and wanting girls to have opportunities that drove most of us to essentially do it for free.”
The three women quickly discovered the lessons from the Illinois’ physical education program were useful in the field. They had learned under department legends such as professors Phyllis Hill and Beulah Drom, who instilled foundations in childhood motor skills and structuring class-time for physical education. The pedagogy of P.E. was scientific and practical: to help students understand the joy of movement, you’ll have to get them to line up single file as well.
“The science of it was really fascinating … you learned how to learn things, which carried over into how to teach,” Snuggs said. “In retrospect, it was always incredibly teaching-oriented.”
Wilken, Snuggs, Bechly and their cohort have retired, mostly, from long careers in physical education and coaching, spanning secondary schools, colleges and universities. They owe much of their lasting bond with their classmates to the passage of Title IX, and the whirlwind of entering the field together, giving student-athletes—particularly young women—opportunities that didn’t exist for themselves.
“We graduated, Title IX happened, and we fell into wonderland,” Bechly said. “Us starting as brand-new teachers, to be able to coach and experience stuff we didn’t really experience to that level, it was just fabulous.”
Naturally, shared professional experiences led the cohort to stay in touch and collaborate. Wilken made a spirited call to Snuggs back in 1979: Wilken was leaving her post at the American River College in Sacramento after founding its women’s track and field team. The school would need a new athletics administrator, and a new coach.
Inspired by how iPALS mirrors their own student-teaching experiences at Illinois, these physical education alums set up a fund to support the program indefinitely. (Photo provided)
“I had never run a track race in my life, but Lyndell said, ‘Hey, you might like this, why don’t you apply?’” Snuggs said. Snuggs got the job and stayed at American River College for more than 30 years, retiring as its dean of physical education in 2012. Wilken went to work at Lane Community College in Oregon, coaching its cross country and track teams to four conference championships.
Today, more than 53 years after the passage of Title IX, these alums have reconnected with their alma mater. After dialogues with the current faculty of Health and Kinesiology, the iPALS program seemed a good target for their financial support, mirroring their own student-teaching experiences at Illinois.
Their Supervised Teaching of Physical Activity/Nutrition Fund will support iPALS indefinitely. The founders have put out an open call for alums, including fellow physical educators, to donate.
“We’d like the students working there in the summer to be future physical educators, and that they continue being mentored and teaching,” Bechly said.
Families can register their kids for this summer session of iPALS now. In the meantime, the PEW alums hope more supporters help sustain the program.
“Physical education is a wonderful opportunity for kids to make decisions at whatever level, in terms of how they deal with others, how they deal with winning and losing. It’s heavy-duty stuff they can use for the rest of their lives,” Snuggs said.
Editor’s note:
To learn more about iPALS or sign up your child, visit the program’s webpage.
Want to contribute to the Supervised Teaching of Physical Activity/Nutrition Fund (Fund #778014)? Donate or email our AHS Office of Advancement at advancement@ahs.illinois.edu.
One embarrassing moment produced viral fame and lifelong lessons for this Recreation, Sport and Tourism alum.
In Derek Dye’s 2012 internship with the Daytona Cubs, he sold concessions, cleaned the bleachers, worked the soundboard, even dressed as the mascot. (Provided)
At their best, college internships are valuable learning experiences. Derek Dye didn’t expect his to involve getting tossed out of a baseball game.
That was the viral story for this University of Illinois alum’s first big-time summer job with Minor League Baseball, working as a stadium operations intern in August 2012. Back then, Dye was a rising senior in the Recreation, Sport and Tourism program at Illinois, eager to break into the sports industry.
“I would’ve done anything to work in sports,” Dye said. “The minor league was the main target for me, a lot of people wanted to get their foot in the door.”
Growing up in Moline, Illinois, sports were truly his life: Dye ran a backyard football club in high school and developed a passion for sports data of the major leagues. His dream was to become the general manager for the Chicago Cubs.
When college neared, he applied to relevant programs across the state that could help him reach his goals. He eventually broke through the waitlist for the University of Illinois’ Recreation, Sport and Tourism program in the spring of 2009.
“The RST major was the first thing I was looking at, I thought it was the perfect fit,” Dye said.
It’s customary for RST students to work an internship in the field before they graduate. Baseball’s minor league was his main target, including the Quad City River Bandits in his hometown.
The summer before his senior year at Illinois, he landed a seemingly perfect role: an internship with the Daytona Cubs, the Minor League Baseball team in Daytona Beach, Florida, and affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
He ended up taking out a $1,700 loan from his grandma to live in a Daytona Beach apartment. When the summer of 2012 began, Dye began a do-everything internship for the Cubs: serving stadium food and beverage, cleaning the bleachers, selling tickets and running the soundboard, all for a $50-a-week stipend.
“You’re gone!”
A picture of the Daytona Cubs soundboard’s options for “bad call.” (Provided).
August 1, 2012. The Fort Myers Miracle faced off against the Daytona Cubs.
At the top of the eighth inning, a Fort Myers batter hit a ground ball to short. The Cubs threw it first, and the umpire called it safe. But Dye, sitting up in the press box, thought it was an out. Earlier that week, Daytona had added an array of audio snippets on the soundboard to play for a “bad call.”
One of them was an organist’s rendition of “Three Blind Mice.” Dye clicked on it.
Umpire Mario Seneca’s head perked up, then he turned and pointed to the press box. “You’re gone!”
The crowd was puzzled, and Seneca continued to gesture up to the soundboard, where Dye was at the helm. “Turn the sound off the rest of the night.”
Fear washed over him.
“As you can imagine, being 21 years old and 1,200 miles away from home, my first reaction is ‘what just happened? I’m gonna get fired,” Dye said. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”
Ejected from his post, the press box was silent: no batter walkups, no anything. The fans started to announce the game themselves, standing from the stands and shouting out the players’ names who were up to bat.
After the game, Dye resumed his usual grunt work, leaf-blowing peanuts from the stands. Then his phone started ringing off the hook: calls came in from reporters at CBS, ESPN, Major League Baseball.
News of his ejection was trending on Twitter. Everyone wanted to know about the soundboard guy—an intern—who was thrown out of the game for playing Three Blind Mice.
“I tried to talk to as many people as I could,” Dye said. He took calls until 2 a.m.
After waking, WGN called him. Unbeknownst to him, it was live on air. He answered questions from his closet so he wouldn’t wake up his roommates.
Dye’s ejection contended for the Minor League Baseball “Moment of the Year.”
He went to the ballpark the next day, and 45 more publications were there to talk to him.
The fallout from the league arrived immediately. Florida State League Commissioner called the incident a “mockery of the game” and fined the team $525.
Dye was banned from the press box for the remainder of his internship. But the team’s general manager, Brady Ballard, covered the fee for his barely paid intern.
“It showed me he saw the big picture,” Dye said. “I was a 21-year-old intern doing my work to engage the crowd and cut my teeth in sports. He didn’t shy away from it, and his support also helped the story grow legs.”
And the Daytona Cubs sold out their stadium the very next game.
“I think the legend behind it had more sticking power than it would nowadays,” Dye said. “Every year it comes up in August for the anniversary.”
‘Your rep is your personal brand in the industry’
When Dye returned for his senior year at Recreation, Sport and Tourism, advisor and instructor Ryan Gower—now chancellor of Illinois Eastern Community Colleges—asked one of his classes: “Anyone have any funny stories from their internships?”
Everyone looked back at Dye and laughed. He had gotten texts from classmates about his ejection for the whole month.
After working in the sports world, Dye is now the director of marketing for Chicagoland’s Affy Tapple.
“Instead of putting my head down, I was able to turn what could’ve been a really negative thing into a really fun story,” Dye said.
He took classes from RST’s many memorable professors, including Clinical Associate Professor Michael Raycraft and Adjunct Instructor Kyle Emkes, and experienced the breadth of the leisure and tourism side of the major in classes with Professor Carla Santos and Professor Emeritus Kim Shinew.
He also took on new roles in his budding sports career, working 40-hour weeks while interning for Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. He helped the kids club and worked with spring sports teams, such as softball and tennis.
Words from instructor and former Illinois volleyball coach Don Hardin lingered with him: if you want to work in sports, you’ll have to handle the tough stuff.
“There’s going to be grunt work, not everything is going to be a glamorous stop,” Dye said, paraphrasing Hardin’s advice. “You’re going to have to be on the front lines, and your rep is your personal brand in the industry.”
After graduating in 2013, Dye interned with Tampa Bay Rays and later managed eCommerce for Sports Collectibles, a sports memorabilia seller. Today, he’s the marketing director for Affy Tapple, a caramel apple producer in Chicagoland.
His degree at RST continually comes in handy at his newest role, where he’s had to manage people and organize big events. Dye hasn’t become a Major League general manager, but the moment he feared would stain his reputation ended up shaping how he shows up for others.
“Being on the ground level, you see everything and learn how to make the best of tough situations,” Dye said. “I’ll never be hard on someone for trying their best.”
How an RST alum became a Hollywood trainer to the stars
Dan Isaacson, center, served as executive director of the Governor’s Council under then-Gov. Pete Wilson. Before Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor, he chaired the council.
Transforming John Travolta. Becoming the first fitness editor for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Marketing customized racketball racks for the Denver Broncos. Presenting the first wearable fitness device, the Polar Heart Rate Monitor. The list goes on.
“I dream of what could be and say why not? It’s the cornerstone of the creative entertainment community with visionary entrepreneurs like Walt Disney,” Dan Isaacson said. “I know I’m an entrepreneur, and I believe that that’s something I got from the University of Illinois.”
Isaacson, 75, grew up in Quincy, Illinois. His father owned John Isaacson & Sons Trucking and Isaacson remembers his early days as wonderfully rural, including farmhouse living, with no in-door running water or plumbing, one room schoolhouse for his first grade experience, church on Sundays, daily chores and sleigh rides in the winter. He said his background set a base for personal training and coaching others to achieve their goals in life.
“I believe we have a series of connecting dots in life that create a picture of who we are and our life’s story,” Isaacson said. “I grew up riding ponies at age 4, hiking, swimming, riding bikes, playing baseball, basketball, football and the tenor saxophone. It created a work/play lifestyle that developed my work values of discipline and responsibility balanced with unstructured play and the importance of being a person you could count on in life.”
Isaacson earned his B.S. from Western Illinois University in Recreation and Park Administration in 1971 and went on to earn his master’s in recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
His reason for choosing Illinois was simple: its historic and unparalleled history in the field recreation and leisure studies. Huff Hall had been graced with several “professors at that time, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, that were true pioneers in health, fitness and recreation education.”
Isaacson said Dr. Joseph Bannon and Dr. Chuck Pezoldt were his mentors. Bannon’s class on decision- making set a base for him that he still uses today, as well as being Pezoldt’s graduate assistant that provided him a guiding light on how to conduct his life personally and professionally.
“Everything to establish the professional importance and value of recreation activity was there,” Isaacson said. “When I got to Illinois, I saw the possibilities beyond just municipal recreation and parks including fitness specialized to improve performance and athletic facility development.”
His first professional role was as a manager of the Sheridan Swim Club in Quincy. Sheridan was also an early training ground for Olympic hopefuls. Nicole Kramer trained there before eventually competing in the 1976 Montreal Olympics for women’s swimming. During those Games, Isaacson was her spokesperson and reported live for the WGEM affiliate in Quincy.
“I got a call from a close friend living in Denver who said, ‘Dan, they’re opening several new athletic clubs in Denver,’ and sent me an article from The Denver Post.”
After that, he headed west.
He began working on programs at elite, full-service athletic clubs that were at the forefront of a new trend: real estate-driven fitness centers in cities like Denver, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and Newport Beach. Serving high-profile clients and specifically the baby boomer generation, these clubs helped spark what would become a nationwide fitness boom.
In the early ‘80s, Isaacson found massive success in training John Travolta for a role-specific physical transformation for the movie “Staying Alive.” Not only did he lay the groundwork for a science-based training program, he shifted the way Hollywood viewed strategic fitness as a means for elevating on-screen performance. Following the movie release, Isaacson and his wife opened their first personal training center by Warner Brothers called “Winning Results,” training many of the biggest stars, producers, directors and studio executives in Hollywood.
While Isaacson attributes much of his career success to his academics, he said there were other experiences outside of the classroom that shaped his worldview. He recalled a time when he was invited to play ice hockey with a friend’s friends.
When I got to Illinois, I saw the possibilities beyond just municipal recreation and parks including fitness specialized to improve performance and athletic facility development.
Dan Isaacson
RST alumnus
“Of course, they were hockey ice skaters,” Isaacson said. “I used to ice skate at home, but I only went one way, which was forwards. So, when the puck was passed to me and I had to skate backwards, they shouted, ‘What are you doing?’”
Despite the embarrassment, “it taught me a good lesson: know in life how to go forwards and backwards, right and left, and you’ll be fine,” Isaacson said. “You don’t want to be stuck – you want to have places to go.”
Isaacson said his next goal is to create a city-model to improve overall health and wellness in a community. Today with advanced technology, use of AI, holograms, robots, biohacking information, social media and new products, he said it’s time to develop and provide customized programs specific for cities.
“How do we create a healthy physical behavior pattern for a city in 90 days?” Isaacson said. “It’s a big goal and the next frontier in health, wellness and longevity.”
Even with all his accomplishments, there is one philosophy that Isaacson continues to champion.
“I just don’t want to look back on my life and say, ‘I wish I would have,’” Isaacson said. “It’s ‘Try, fail and sail.’”
John Preston had never been in an integrated environment until he came to the University of Illinois in 1967
John Preston, second from right, navigated an unfamiliar world when he came to Urbana-Champaign (Photo provided)
Arriving at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the 1970s, John Preston was among the few Black students and people with disabilities on campus. His journey through the university not only challenged him to navigate an unfamiliar world but also taught him the value of embracing life as it comes.
“If you understood what you’re going through, being Black, then what you go through being disabled is just a continuation of having that experience of being different,” Preston said.
In high school, a car accident left Preston paralyzed. The sudden change forced him to navigate a world that wasn’t built for people like him.
Having also grown up in the South, he said he had never been in an integrated environment until he came to U. of I. in 1967 to complete an undergraduate degree in business administration and marketing. It was the only university in the nation at that time that was accessible and accommodating to persons with disabilities.
“When I arrived, I went into my room and I met my roommate. Dwight was from Wisconsin and he was white,” Preston said. “This would be the first time I ever had lived with someone of a different race.”
Preston faced some discrimination in his dorm during the early weeks, but “I was used to it and I soon felt that discrimination melt away when we all got to know each other personally.” For him, the accessibility of the campus and sense of freedom was amazing.
“It was a campus that I could push all over,” Preston said. “I could go from one end to the other, and I could go anywhere in any building. I could get out of my chair and transfer into an accessible shower chair. It was absolutely fantastic.”
He had never lived in a place with accommodations like U. of I. Preston recalled that when he first applied to Illinois, he was missing course requirements like chemistry and algebra. Those classes in his high school were taught upstairs—a place inaccessible to him.
The first thing one has to do is accept, ‘This is who I am’
John Preston
Illinois alumnus
His wife, Lynn Preston, said the integration of people with disabilities isn’t just an opportunity for students with disabilities to have an accessible college program.
“U. of I. offered an opportunity for people who are able-bodied to have a realistic normalized opportunity to integrate with a population that happened to be disabled,” Lynn Preston said. “When we integrate with each other and know each other personally, we don’t see the disability or wheelchair first—we learn to see the person.”
At Illinois, Preston said it was a real treat to be in an environment where he felt comfortable, physically and mentally, as well as educationally.
“I was able to get in touch with a self that I had never been before,” Preston said. “I was able to start thinking about myself as someone who had an opportunity to become different in a world that I hadn’t traversed.”
That physical freedom opened the door to emotional freedom, too—a shift Preston didn’t fully understand until a study abroad trip to France offered and supported by Illinois as part of his master’s program in psychological social work.
A trip to France helped Preston, center, feel more emotional freedom. (Photo provided)
“As far as I can see, people were standing up staring at us—but I didn’t feel bad,” Preson said. “I was trying to figure out, ‘Why don’t I feel bad?’ And I realized that I cannot look inside their heads to see what they were thinking. Whatever negative impressions I was getting was from me—it wasn’t coming from people on the outside.”
It was at that moment, Preston said, that he began to feel OK about himself.
“That was the greatest sense of accomplishment because I came away knowing that my life was about learning how to be OK with me, not about trying to determine whether someone liked me or didn’t like me. It was more about me getting to like me.”
Another experience that defined Preston’s college career was his job as a bouncer at a bar.
“I determined who could come through the door, I was checking IDs at the door,” Preston said. “That was one of the things that really was the normalization process for me. I felt like everybody else because I was doing the same things everyone was doing. I’ll always appreciate the gentleman who gave me the job.”
Shortly after graduating with his B.S., Preston went back to earn his masters in social work. Once it was completed, he packed his car and drove to California, where he landed a job as a licensed psychotherapist for Stanford. His job was to provide sessions to staff and faculty who were having difficulties with their families, the university or any other issues.
“People just feel different sometimes in their environment. We try to get in touch with whom we are within a group of individuals,” Preston said.
He said being in social service helped him understand a lot about individuals and the therapeutic process, and that is intimately tied to my education and experiences at U. of I.
“My success as a psychotherapist was also a result of my coming to terms with myself and the quality of the education that I was getting,” Preston said. “It helped me become a better therapist and gave me the tremendous ability to change my awareness of life to see how I could grow and become the best that I could be.”
Preston said he’s gone on to have a fantastic life, with kids, grandchildren and a great-grandchild with another on the way.
“My life has been more than I could ever have thought it could be,” Preston said.
His philosophy that he has carried throughout his life can resonate with all audiences.
“The first thing one has to do is accept, ‘This is who I am,’” Preston said. “Then, you look at each situation that comes into your life as, ‘How can I be the best me in this situation?’ And you are always looking at life as an ability to grow and become who you are and feel OK about you.”
Tacoria Humphrey was recently named a Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year, presented annually to the top Fighting Illini male and female athlete
Big Ten long jump champ Tacoria Humphrey has plans beyond her track and field competitions. (Photo courtesy of Fighting Illini)
She races down the rubberized runway, determination pumping through her arms, energy coursing across her strides and focus blazing in her eyes. With a mighty leap, she seems to sail through the air. Sand mushrooms under her shoes as she lands in the pit, the crowd roaring. That’s Tacoria Humphrey—champion of the 2025 Big Ten Long Jump.
Humphrey started track in middle school at Raymond Park Middle School on Indianapolis’ east side, where she broke two records in the high jump and 200 meter. Now, she’s well-decorated: she earned All-American honors in both indoor and outdoor seasons after winning back-to-back Big Ten long jump titles, placed fourth at the NCAA outdoor championships, recorded the third-longest indoor jump in NCAA history as national runner-up and earned a spot on The Bowerman Watch List. Humphrey said her success came from confidence.
“I feel like track is a mental sport,” Humphrey said. “If you believe you can do something, you’re most likely going to be able to do it, whereas if you’re scared or thinking about other people, that’s going to take over your mind and you’re not going to do well.”
Humphrey also attributed her many accomplishments to her training and her coach, Petros Kyprianou, the current director of Track & Field and Cross Country at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“He has inspired me the most because he really believes in me, and when somebody just believes in you so much, you start to believe in yourself,” Humphrey said. “He’s just so thrilled to coach me, and he sees that I have a bright future and it just makes me want to accomplish everything to the highest level I can.”
She recalled a moment at the 2025 regionals for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Competitors only had three jumps, and Humphrey’s weren’t up to the number she needed to qualify for nationals.
“After my second jump, he talked with me,” Humphrey said. “He was giving me that pep talk, like, ‘You got this. This is what you’ve been training for,’ and helping me calm down. I literally went from 15th place to fourth, and I qualified.”
Kyprianou was the one who encouraged Humphrey to switch her event from high jump to long jump her sophomore year of college.
“I definitely was like, ‘This is weird,’ but I love trying new things,” Humphrey said. “I never expected to change events and to do so good in that event, but I 100% don’t regret it.”
“I always love helping people. I’m a people person.
Tacoria Humphrey
Community Health major and Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year
Outside of her national achievements, Humphrey was recently named a Dike Eddleman Athlete of the Year, presented annually to the top Fighting Illini male and female athlete. The University of Illinois Athlete of the Year was first awarded in 1940, and was named in honor of the 11-time UI letterman and Olympian Dwight “Dike” Eddleman in 1993, who is generally considered the greatest athlete in the history of Illinois Athletics.
Caitlin Clarke, a health and kinesiology teaching assistant professor and chair of the Academic Progress and Eligibility Committee, said that sport performance is typically not the only factor that goes into choosing the recipient of the Dike Eddleman award.
“This is part of the culture of Illinois Athletics—they’re not going to go for someone who’s just really good at their sport and doesn’t care about academics at all,” Clarke said. “We get some really phenomenal students who are both really good at their sport and also really good at their major.”
At Illinois, Humphrey is a community health major, with a concentration in health education and health planning and promotion.
“I always love helping people,” Humphrey said. “I’m a people person.”
This summer, she’s participating in the Health and Kinesiology 471 internship program and working with Wellness4Every1, an organization dedicated to ensuring equitable access to high-quality arts and wellness programs for students in diverse communities. Clarke, additionally a lead faculty for the community health internship program, said Humphrey is doing a great job stepping into the professional world.
“She’s future-thinking, because she knows that she wants to compete professionally for a while, but she isn’t just checking off a box with this internship,” Clarke said. “This experience really pushes students to learn how to communicate professionally, which is an important skill anywhere and can be difficult to navigate.”
Clarke said it’s important for all student athletes to also excel outside of their sport.
“Most of our student athletes are going to go on to careers that are not always directly related to sports, so you have to have a plan,” Clarke said. “You don’t want that plan to be, ‘Well, I just kind of did okay in my major.’ You want to be the rock star that gets into a successful career so that you can enjoy your life and do more to help other people around you.”
Currently, Humphrey is preparing to become a pro athlete. Her first pro meet was the USA Track and Field Championships at the end of July.
“I’ll be a little nervous, but not really, because I’ve been jumping big marks that are close to what pros jump,” Humphrey said. “I’m eager to have better competition, and that will definitely push me.”
For her, success means a gold medal, and with her trademark confidence, it’s not a matter of if—but when.
Today’s Department of Health and Kinesiology once hosted the nation’s foremost researchers of sport psychology. Nearly 50 years on, these pioneers reunited at Huff Hall for a weekend on campus.
When Rainer Martens arrived at the University of Illinois in the summer of 1966, he stepped out of his blue Mustang and bounded up the steps of George Huff Hall, to see the university’s Sport Psychology Laboratory with his own eyes.
What he found on the third floor of Huff initially disappointed him: old equipment piled up in the corner of a room with just enough space to seat a class. “We thought we’d come to the wrong place,” Martens said.
Turns out, he wasn’t in the wrong place—maybe just a little early.
What followed was the explosive growth of sport psychology research at Illinois. With help from the university’s world-class department of psychology, a group of likeminded doctoral students—including Martens, Glyn Roberts and the late Dan Landers—began building a formal sport psychology graduate program at Illinois, to study the mental aspects of athletic success, motivation and performance.
Dozens of doctoral students went on to matriculate in the program and bring their discoveries to institutions across the globe. By the late 1970s, Illinois had become the torchbearer for modern-day sport psychology in the U.S., with a vibrant group of researchers at the helm.
Five decades later, a group of those same students and faculty returned to campus to catch up with their former colleagues, and take a tour of their old academic home. The guest list left an indelible mark on the field of sport psychology as it stands today.
Even as Illinois’ own sport psychology program has faded, the legacy of its achievements and discoveries endure in the modern day College of Applied Health Sciences. Faculty at AHS, particularly in Health and Kinesiology, continue to study the psychological effects of exercise and physical activity at large, building on more than 100 years of tradition.
“All these former students, they’ve all gone on to distinguished careers. They’ve gone on to become presidents of national sport psychology organizations, and spoken all over the world,” Martens said. “This gathering, it’s a once in a lifetime thing.”
To cap off their walk down memory lane, these legends of sport psychology got to share lunch with current-day faculty and doctoral students in the Department of Health and Kinesiology.
“That was very humbling, we never expected anybody to turn out,” said Glyn Roberts, who worked as a professor of sport psychology at Illinois until 1998. “It was very rewarding that they would do that for us.”
Guests of honor
Rainer Martens, a professor of kinesiology at Illinois until 1984, and co-founder of Human Kinetics, leading publisher of books and journals on physical activity
Julie Martens, PhD in sport psychology and the first employee of Human Kinetics, who retired as executive vice president in 2009
Glyn Roberts, professor emeritus at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and former professor of sport psychology at Illinois
Tara Scanlan, professor emerita of psychology at UCLA, and her husband Larry Scanlan
Diane Gill, kinesiology professor emerita at UNC Greensboro
Dan Gould and Marty Ewing, professors emeriti at Michigan State. Both earned a Ph.D. at Illinois, and Gould taught here until 1991
Damon Burton, professor of sport psychology at the University of Idaho
Robin Vealey, professor of kinesiology and health at the University of Miami, Ohio
Linda “Bump” Harrison, a publisher who got her PhD in the program in 1987
Marc Lochbaum, professor of kinesiology at Texas Tech who went to Illinois for undergrad and was mentored by several sport psychology greats
Absent were Joan Duda, professor of sport and exercise psychology at University of Birmingham, and Dan Landers, a professor of sport and exercise psychology and co-founder of the Journal of Sport Psychology, who passed away in 2023
‘We didn’t realize it, but we were pioneers’
Though Illinois experienced fertile growth of sport psychology in the 1970s, the seeds were planted by Coleman Griffith, known as the “father of sport psychology” for his pioneering work into the mental aspects of athletic performance.
Griffith founded and ran Illinois’ Athletic Research Laboratory until 1932, where he studied the links between personality and physiology on athletic success. He wrote two books—“Psychology of Coaching” and “Psychology and Athletics”— but left no proteges for his research. Griffith later became provost of the university.
Physical fitness pioneer Thomas “TK” Cureton started his Physical Fitness Research Laboratory in 1944, occasionally collaborating with psychologist Raymond B. Cattell. The two of them examined the relationship between physical activity on personality and several of Cureton’s graduate students examined the anxiety-reducing effects of exercise. In 1951, Professor Alfred “Fritz” Hubbard revived Griffith’s research line with a new Sport Psychology Laboratory, located in a third floor office of Huff Hall, then known as Huff Gymnasium.
Hubbard specialized in motor learning, but saw latent potential in the sport psychology discipline. After a decade of research and recruitment, Hubbard had a prediction: the number of graduate students interested in sport psychology would double or triple by the end of the 1970s. His forecast of growth came true.
Still, those who joined the Illinois sport psychology program in the 1960s found their way to the field before an academic path formally existed. Some started out in coaching or physical education, and were searching for applied knowledge to use in the field.
For Rainer, his experience with intense anxiety before youth wrestling matches inspired him to understand competitive nerves and how to quell them.
After getting degrees from the then-named Department of Physical Education, Landers, Martens and Roberts all eventually joined the Children’s Research Center, a grant-funded research vehicle seeking to explain children’s behavior from multiple academic disciplines.
The recent grads worked in the center’s Motor Performance and Play Research Laboratory, where they used social psychology principles to study children’s play, and explore how their stress levels, personalities and more influenced their motor learning.
The grant-funded lab supercharged their progress.
“A lot of the stuff we did initially was stress related. How do you reduce stress? That was Rainer’s research—what he called competitive anxiety,” said Roberts, who began working at the Children’s Research Center in 1973. “Mine was motivation: how do you make people do what they ought to be doing?”
Full-time research positions to study the field were unusual, and freeing. From 1968 to 1975, Martens stayed on with the Children’s Research Center. Lifted by the university’s resources, namely its enormous library, computing power and collaborators in psychology, the lab produced leading research in sport psychology before peer institutions had caught on to the emerging discipline.
Julie Martens (center left) and Tara Scanlan (second from right) share a laugh in Huff Hall. Both of them obtained their doctoral degrees in sport psychology from the University of Illinois.
Jean Driscoll (center) chats with Dan Gould and Damon Burton, both graduates of the sport psychology program at Illinois who went on to successful careers in the field.
Bill Goodman (center) retired associate dean for administration at the College of AHS, tours former Illinois sport psychology students and faculty around Huff Gym.
Chris Tamas, the current coach of the Illinois volleyball squad, speaks to former sport psychology students and faculty in Huff Gym.
Jean Driscoll shows off the wall of Distinguished Alumni Award winners from the College of Applied Health Sciences.
Former Illinois sport psychology students and faculty sit in one of the new Huff Hall classrooms. The space used to be part of the Huff Gym indoor pool.
A reunion of sport psychology faculty and students at Illinois brought the guests inside and outside Huff Hall, where much of the early research into their field took place.
Former Illinois sport psychology faculty and students walk up the ramp of the Khan Annex, an addition to Huff Hall that opened in 2011.
Glyn Roberts (center) points to the wall of deans of the College of Applied Health Sciences.
Don Hardin (right), adjunct instructor at AHS and former women's volleyball head coach, talks about the history of Huff Hall with former sport psychology students and faculty.
The sport psychology tour stops by the Freer Hall gym, used for research purposes.
Former sport psychology students and faculty tour the basement labs of Freer Hall.
The enthusiasm of Illinois sport psychologists was clearly infectious. After a couple years teaching physical education, Diane Gill attended a conference at Brockport, New York, where she got to hear both Dan Landers and Rainer Martens speak about their research at Illinois. By her first semester in Urbana-Champaign, Gill was in Martens’ class “Social Psychology and Physical Activity,” where his first doctoral student, Tara Scanlan, was teaching assistant.
“Taking that course, immediately I thought, ‘this is the area I’d like to be in,’” Gill said.
She soon worked with the pair on their competitive anxiety research, and later studied competitiveness and athletes’ “achievement orientation,” or drive to improve and accomplish goals within their sport, along with a host of other topics in the field.
“Illinois was the place to be if you wanted to be in sport psychology,” she said.
Gill is newly retired, having spent more than 30 years as a professor of kinesiology at University of North Carolina, Greensboro after obtaining her master’s and Ph.D. at Illinois.
(“My doctoral students are retiring,” said Martens, now 82. “That makes me really old.”)
Physical activity—whether it’s high-level athletics or recess play—is all one field.
Diane Gill
Professor Emerita of Kinesiology, UNC Greensboro
Julie Martens, née Simon, was accepted into the program in 1973, coming to Illinois specifically to study with Rainer. (They would get married nearly 20 years later).
“[Tara Scanlan and Diane] had an office out at the Children’s Research Center right next to Rainer’s. As I got to know them, we used to be out there every evening. They said, “Come on out, you can study at night with us,’” Julie said. “That’s how I got involved with meeting the other students, then I got an assistantship and got where I wanted to be.”
The scientists would run experiments, hop over to the nearby cafeteria in the Adler Mental Health building for lunch and sketch out ideas for new research designs on napkins. Those early days were “invigorating,” Martens said.
By 1980, U. of I. was the premier place of study for sport psychology, alongside Penn State. They had turned the topic into a formal graduate program, and the field was continuing to blossom. In 1979, Dan Landers and Rainer co-founded the Journal of Sport Psychology, where Landers was the inaugural editor-in-chief.
As the field grew in relevance, new pathways opened up and Illinois sport psychology spread across the country. Sport psychology got a “big break” when the Olympic Training Committee allowed athletes to be advised by professionals who weren’t clinicians or psychiatrists, Roberts said—sport psychologists could now help athletes develop strategies to perform under extreme stressors.
“The U. of I. was very special. And the thing that stuck with me was we attracted such good students. We generated a reputation, and students wanted to come here from all over the world,” Roberts said. “We didn’t realize it, but we were pioneers.”
‘No better program in the world’
Between visits to their old labs and offices, the sport psychology legends visited classrooms in Huff Hall where there used to be a swimming pool, and walked on floors of Freer Hall that were once open air.
“In Freer and Huff, things have changed, which is good in many ways. You wouldn’t want the same stuff you had 50 years ago,” Gill said.
Over the weekend, the sport psychology crew took the 40-minute drive to Allerton Park in Monticello, where they hosted the nation’s first conference in sport psychology: the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) in 1973.
Several of them later served as executives and presidents of the society. The first conference also planted the seeds for Human Kinetics, the Champaign-based publisher of sport and exercise science founded by Martens and his first wife, Marilyn.
Though a formal sport psychology program no longer exists at Illinois, the field has expanded and evolved. The Department of Health and Kinesiology continues to study the psychological aspects and benefits of physical activity.
Rainer Martens speaks to his former Sport Psychology colleagues, and the current-day faculty of Health and Kinesiology.
“I think of it as one field. Physical activity—whether it’s high-level athletics or recess play—is all one field,” Gill said.
After walking through their old stomping grounds, the group met with current-day faculty and students of Health and Kinesiology for lunch in Freer Hall.
“This was the group that got sport psychology a foothold in this country,” said HK Professor Steve Petruzzello, who runs the college’s Exercise Psychophysiology Laboratory. “It’s wonderful to see these folks back here, to see their eyes light up as they’re walking around the halls, seeing spaces that look familiar and some that are completely unfamiliar.”
What remains from this era of sport psychology, and even the early days of Athletic Research Laboratory, are questions on the relationship between physical activity and psychology—including personality, stress, cognitive factors and affect, or feeling states.
“Faculty currently study these kinds of topics in older adults and children, in diverse populations, and in more specialized groups like tactical athletes,” Petruzzello said. “So really, the pioneering work of Coleman Griffith at Illinois over 100 years ago has evolved and developed into what it is today.”
Before heading off, the sport psychologists dispensed career advice with some of the rising graduate students and faculty. Linda Harrison obtained her Ph.D. from the program in 1987—she opted to go into the publishing industry instead of academia, but she credits her time at Illinois for developing her abilities to think and ask questions.
“The grad students all benefited from the historic founding fathers of sport psychology and the scholars who picked up the torch to carry the program to the next level,” Harrison said. “I am sure there was no better program in the world than the one offered at U. of I.”
Editor’s note:
To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu The College of Applied Health Sciences and Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics are celebrating 100 years of Huff Hallthis fall.
Haley Bauman graduated from the University of Illinois in August 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in recreation, sport and tourism. She told us about her internship program this summer.
This past summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete a 10-week internship as an activities field support agent for the Catalina Island Co. My initial connection to this company was through an online job search, which led to a seasonal position as a sales agent in the summer of 2022.
After experiencing an incredible season on Catalina Island, I knew that once this opportunity came to an end it would not be the last time I worked for this company. This past spring, I partnered with their tours and activities management team to create an entirely new position that aligned with the RST Internship Program.
I chose Catalina Island for my internship site because I thought it would be the best fit for my future career goals in the eco-tourism industry. Additionally, the Catalina Island Co. provides numerous opportunities for employees to try out multiple positions within their tours and activities department. I decided to do my internship in California because I am hoping to move there post-graduation. Having connections in the location where you plan to live is crucial for your employment in the future.
As a field support agent in the tours and activities department, my primary responsibilities included guiding tourists and helping with any questions or concerns, packaging tours and activities in a cost-efficient and time-friendly manner and assisting co-workers with daily tasks. Additionally, I assisted my internship supervisor with office and onsite jobs, such as setting up signage for cruise ships, adjusting balance sheets and organizing work spaces to maintain a clean and happy work environment. The unique eco-tourism opportunities I packaged, sold and guided guests to partake in ranged from semi-submersible rides and bison expeditions to eco-ziplining tours.
A major positive aspect of this internship experience was that it provided me with the opportunity to practice a work-life balance in the real world. Through trial and error, I found which strategies worked best to keep me happy and healthy during this process. Another key aspect was that I have grown personally and professionally, which allowed me to reach the goals I had set for myself—especially in the areas of communication and customer service. This internship also helped me discover a major life lesson: not everything needs to go according to plan for you to be successful. In fact, most things won’t go according to plan and that’s OK because it’s the problem-solving and outcome that dictates your success.
Although my internship has ended, I am continuing to work with the Catalina Island Co. as a sales agent for the tours and activities department through the remainder of the season in October. This opportunity has been such an incredible learning experience and I am excited to continue to grow with this position. Overall, I would definitely recommend interning for this company as it provides hands-on experiences to help individuals build confidence and a better understanding of what interests them in the field of recreation, sport and tourism.
Three graduates who received this year’s alumni awards from AHS have amassed impressive accomplishments for themselves while keeping a professional eye on others.
A college president who thinks the best part of leadership is facilitating the achievements of colleagues. An attorney who makes sure companies that provide communications and media services are making them accessible to people with disabilities. A young entrepreneur who makes it his business to help other entrepreneurs succeed.
The three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates who received this year’s alumni awards from the College of Applied Health Sciences have amassed impressive accomplishments for themselves while keeping a professional eye on others.
AHS Distinguished Alumni Award
Dr. Trevor Bates is the president of Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio. While completing his master’s degree in kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he served a pre-doctoral fellowship in athletic training (a program in the Department of Kinesiology at the time) and provided clinical athletic training to student-athletes in the wheelchair athletics program of the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). Of his time in DRES, he said, “It was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to learn about new and different kinds of injuries, and that’s exactly what happened. I learned that the impact of an injury on the life of a person who uses a wheelchair is a lot different.”
Bates completed his PhD in health sciences through A.T. Still University, with a concentration in leadership and organizational behavior. He is a licensed athletic trainer in Ohio and is nationally certified in athletic training.
Under his leadership, Wilmington College has developed and implemented a five-year strategic plan; introduced its first fully online graduate program; and launched two new graduate programs in organizational leadership and occupational therapy. What he enjoys most about leadership, he said, is seeing other people win. “It is a lot of fun to see my former students become program directors or leaders in organizations, or the people around me experience success as a result of work that we’ve done together,” he said.
Prior to joining Wilmington College, Bates served as vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculty, and professor of health sciences at Mercy College of Ohio, founding associate dean of the Division of Health Sciences and chair of athletic training at Heidelberg University, assistant professor of exercise science and sport at Millikin University (where he earned his bachelor’s degree), and athletic trainer at Decatur, IL, Memorial Hospital.
Committed to promoting and ensuring the advancement of opportunities for underrepresented people, Bates is a strong advocate for the proactive recruitment, retention, and development of high-quality students, staff, and faculty who contribute diverse perspectives and backgrounds that represent the global community. His commitment to underrepresented students is partly selfish, he explained, saying, “I was that student.” He grew up in a neighborhood in Chicago where going to college was not an expectation or common occurrence.
He said, “My mother and father both pushed the value of education and how it can give you broader opportunities. Once I was exposed and began to see the benefits, I understood that there were a lot of people like me whom I wanted to expose to what was possible.”
Bates was honored by the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association with the 2017 Linda Weber Daniel Outstanding Mentor Award and the 2018 Professional Service Award. He also received the 2020 Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Dedicated Service Award in recognition of contributions to the athletic training profession at the state, regional, and national levels.
On receiving the AHS Distinguished Alumni Award, Bates said, “It is extremely humbling to be recognized by the College of Applied Health Sciences. When I received the notification, I was quickly reminded of my mother’s advice. She said, ‘Make a difference. Work hard when no one important is watching.’ Knowing there are countless alumni who have also done outstanding work in their fields, I feel truly blessed to be the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.”
Harold Scharper Award
Michal Nowicki is an associate attorney with Marashlian & Donahue, located in the metropolitan Washington DC area. He completed his law degree in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law in 2018. During law school, he served as staff writer and notes editor for the Illinois Business Law Journal. He wrote two notes for the journal, both of which were published.
He recalls his law school days fondly, saying, “I was very fortunate to be part of a law school class that bonded closely, especially during the first year when there is no flexibility in choosing schedules. We were in it for the long haul. It was a difficult year. We stuck together and I developed several lifelong friendships as a result.” He enjoyed working with the college’s renowned faculty, who helped him understand the broad array of options available to someone with a law degree.
“DRES really topped things off very well,” he continued. “They consistently provided reliable accommodations so that I could focus on academics and not have to fight for what I needed, as too many people I have known, unfortunately, have had to do in their academic endeavors.”
Nowicki focuses his practice on helping clients comply with a wide range of telecommunications laws. His primary area of expertise centers on laws requiring access for people with physical, sensory, and other disabilities to telephone relay services and other forms of telecommunications, video content and equipment, and other digital products and services. Of his work, he said, “My focus on representing clients in accessibility-related matters is not just to help them comply with accessibility laws, but also to understand and take full advantage of the commercial benefits of incorporating accessibility into every state of product and service design, thereby tapping into a market of millions of people who have not allowed their disabilities to hold them back.”
Nowicki is keenly interested in the 21st-Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and other accessibility laws. He helped the National Federation of the Blind convince the FCC to deny Amazon’s petition for a permanent exemption from CVAA accessibility requirements for e-book readers. He also worked closely with Comcast and DirecTV to ensure that both companies comply with FCC regulations requiring audio description for blind and low vision customers. Nowicki recently responded to the FCC’s request for public comments on how audio description rules have been implemented, hoping that the FCC will expand the requirements to cover video-on-demand programming and television broadcasts delivered over the Internet.
In 2020, he co-hosted a unique webinar highlighting the wide range of business opportunities arising from making digital products and services accessible to customers with disabilities, presenting alongside the Chief of the FCC Disability Rights Office and the top product designer at Poly, which makes various communication devices. He also provided a highly interactive, in-depth overview of audio description requirements under the CVAA, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act at the 2021 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium; shared his experiences with online conferencing platforms at an American Bar Association-sponsored webinar on disability access to virtual courts; and delivered an informative presentation on the current state of U.S. video accessibility laws.
Nowicki is a proud leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois (NFBI), with which he has been involved for over a decade. Since November 2020, he has served as the organization’s elected treasurer, preparing its annual budget, strategically allocating grants to attract future donations, and managing tax obligations, among other responsibilities. Mr. Nowicki also co-chairs two important NFBI committees focused on helping blind Illinoisans live productive and independent lives and shaping official NFBI policies on a wide range of blindness issues.
AHS Young Alumni Award
Manu Edakara majored in community health as an undergraduate because his parents wanted him to be a doctor, and he thought it would be the best avenue for preparing for that role. He did not become a doctor, however. Instead, he founded the award-winning iVenture Accelerator, one of the top educational entrepreneurship programs in the country. Still, he thinks his education in AHS prepared him well for his entrepreneurial role.
“I credit my discipline, positive outlook, and holistic approach to leadership and management to my deep understanding of health and wellness and how much it matters,” he said. “I am a healthy leader, and I take pride in that, and often inspire others to live healthier lives.”
As an undergraduate, Edakara worked as a personal trainer for Campus Recreation and became an emergency medical technician. He worked in a hospital cardiac rehabilitation center, helped to train the wheelchair basketball team and Paralympians in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services, did research in the Exercise Psychology Lab, and worked with veterans with severe mental and physical disabilities at the Jefferson Center for Veterans Affairs.
As director of iVenture Accelerator, Edakara provides a startup ecosystem across the three University of Illinois campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. Part of a statewide economic development initiative, iVenture Accelerator supports students’ innovative ideas for economic and educational transformation. Its portfolio companies have raised more than $100 million, created more than 600 full-time jobs around the world, and received prestigious international recognition. Edakara serves as the main strategic advisor for all teams on mission, vision, hiring, leadership, raising money, storytelling, operations, and marketing.
“I’m in the line of work I’m in because I believe that business that works is business that solves a problem,” he said. “Good business solves a problem, which helps people. I’m in the business of helping people.”
Edakara also is the co-instructor for the Topics in Entrepreneurship seminar offered by the Gies College of Business,. The seminar attracts students from all colleges, majors, and academic standings across the entire University of Illinois system and Illinois Innovation Network, and is consistently ranked in the top four percent of courses at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His young changemakers have been featured on Amazon Prime documentaries and received Thiel Fellowships from the Society of Women Engineers.
In 2020, Edakara was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He is a certified personal trainer, emergency medical technician, and formerly competed in men’s bodybuilding. He has been training in kalaripayattu, believed to be the oldest surviving martial art in India, since he was a child.
“I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do when I graduated college,” he said. “I’m very happy and fulfilled where I am. I’m very grateful for where I am and very humbled. I’m doing what I want and every day is really good.”
