Top USC officials, special guests honor Exercise Science Department on National Ranking

 Posted 04/23/2007

Top USC officials and special guests gathered Monday to honor the Arnold School of Public Health Department of Exercise Science for having the top-ranked program in kinesiology and exercise science in the United States.

“Faculty in the Department of Exercise Science have for years been at the forefront of research on the relationship between physical activity and health,” Dean Dr. Donna Richter told a group of about 100 at the Arnold School’s new Public Health Research Center.

USC President Andrew Sorensen said the department’s number one ranking is another example of the top quality programs under way at the university.  Recently the Carnegie Foundation declared USC to be among the top ranked research institutions in the nation and the only one in South Carolina, he said.

Dr. Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health sciences and former dean of the Arnold School, said the Exercise Science department has generated three of the recent presidents of the American College of Sports Medicine.

They include Exercise Science Chair Dr. Larry Durstine, who is the current president of the ACSM, and faculty members Drs. Steven Blair and Russ Pate.

Durstine, who joined the faculty in 1989, praised the quality of his faculty, staff and students, many of whom have distinguished themselves as public health practitioners.  Another attribute of the department has been its efforts to strike a harmonious balance among its research, teaching and outreach contributions, he said.