Alhassan Inducted as Fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology
Content
Professor of Kinesiology Sofiya Alhassan is one of seventeen scholars inducted as Fellows into the National Academy of Kinesiology during the Academy’s annual meeting and awards ceremony on September 30, 2023, in Newport Beach, CA.
The National Academy of Kinesiology is an honorary organization composed of Fellows who have made distinguished and sustained contributions to the field of kinesiology through scholarship and professional service. The dual purpose of the National Academy of Kinesiology is to encourage and promote the study and educational applications of the art and science of human movement and physical activity and to honor by election to Fellow those individuals who have moved the field forward as a direct result of their scholarly and professional contributions. Fellows in the National Academy of Kinesiology reflect a “who’s who” of eminent scholars in the field.
"Dr. Alhassan has been a leading researcher developing and implementing community-based physical activity interventions designed to mitigate childhood obesity and other negative health consequences of low activity in underserved communities of color," says Richard van Emmerik, Professor and Chair of Kinesiology. "This focus is both a critical topic and an essential, on-going need in our society. Her work is unique in that she includes in her study designs and assessments factors such as the environment, culture, family unit, and policies that may influence her outcomes and the health of the children she studies. Dr. Alhassan also has provided exemplary leadership to the Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, the campus community, and her profession. These leadership skills have recently been acknowledged through her appointment as Associate Dean in the Office of Inclusion and Engagement at the UMass Amherst Graduate School."
Since joining the UMass Amherst faculty in 2007, Alhassan has served as the graduate program director of the kinesiology department, an ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, and a scholar for the Center for Research on Families. Nationally, she has served on the board of trustees of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and is a member of several committees within the ACSM organization, and was previously a Leadership and Diversity Fellow. She serves as editor of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. She has and continues to mentor several students and faculty of color across the UMass campus.