Besides being a track and field athlete, he aspired to be a high-school science teacher and was working towards a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biology with a minor in physics. His career path changed after reading about Exercise Science Master鈥檚 and Ph.D. programs in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln brochure during his junior year at Concordia University in Seward, Neb.

Stout changed his major after learning Concordia University was going to offer a bachelor of science degree in exercise science. He was the first student to graduate in the program and later received his master of physical education degree in exercise science and an Exercise Physiology Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Neb.

Stout is fascinated with exercise physiology because 鈥渆xercise has an effect on every physiological system in the human body, and how we manipulate exercise intensity, volume and mode can cause wide-ranging effects on the body.鈥�

He also says 鈥渘utrition and exercise training are related intimately to athletic performance, and nutrition is a major factor for an athlete reaching their genetic potential.鈥�

Stout has applied his research into practice by publishing more than 220 studies, eight books and 10 book chapters during his career.

For the past 25 years, Stout has been a member of research teams that have examined the impact of youth-sport participation on growth and development. He has also researched the influence of various nutritional supplements and its effects on body composition and exercise performance with men and women in different age groups. His main focus has been on skeletal muscle fatigue, which is a key factor in human performance in all age groups.

He provided service by consulting with Olympic athletes and professional baseball and football teams at no charge in the past. Stout鈥檚 expertise has also gone the distance in the NASCAR industry. He was contacted by Yates Racing鈥檚 owner Robert Yates while he was an assistant professor of exercise science at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. 15 years ago.

Yates asked for Stout鈥檚 assistance with getting his pit crew into better physical shape and improving their pit-stop time on the racetrack. NASCAR pit crews hustle while changing four 75-pound tires, filling up stock cars with 50-pound gallons of gas and washing the windows in under 20 seconds.

Stout鈥檚 challenge was breaking down the pit crews鈥� movements and determining how to improve their power and speed. Stout coordinated with a strength-conditioning coach about conducting specialized exercises three times a week while he provided the pit crew with a nutritional and dietary supplement program. The plan of action worked and resulted in the pit crew significantly improving pit times and winning NASCAR鈥檚 biggest prize, the Winston Cup championship, at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Penn. in 2001.

His accomplishments have continued at the 麻豆原创 College of Education and Human Performance. Stout received the National Strength and Conditioning Association鈥檚 prestigious 2013 William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist and 2015 Educator of the Year Awards during his tenure.

Persistence and hard work also paid off for the sport and exercise science鈥檚 faculty and doctoral students. The Ph.D. program was recently ranked sixth in the nation by the National Academy of Kinesiology.

Stout is proud of the vanguard program and says 鈥済reat grad students and a team approach among faculty will always foster success every time.鈥�

The CEDHP sport and exercise science faculty and graduate students conduct research in five state-of-the-art labs. The faculty mentor the students throughout the research process providing them with a chance to be principal investigators on funded studies, write and publish papers, teach and deliver presentations at national meetings.

Stout feels the labs are creating remarkable results that will help athletes in the long run.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 exciting about the Institute for Exercise Physiology and Wellness is our capability to conduct translational research with animals and humans. We have examined the effect of different recovery modalities on immune response, cell signaling, oxidative stress and performance post-muscle damaging exercise. The results along with many other studies help practitioners like athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists develop recovery strategies for their athletes and to keep them healthy.鈥�

In addition to being a professor and sports-nutrition expert along with spending quality time with his family and American Akita dog Sumo, Stout has a black belt (Shodan) in judo and enjoys coaching and watching his children Nicole, 18 and Jeffrey, 16 compete in national and international judo competitions.

Stout is passionate about teaching and advises students 鈥渢o choose a school with a program that actively conducts sport and exercise science research because they鈥檙e the ones that are most up to date.鈥�

Stout is proud of his CEDHP achievements but feels it wouldn鈥檛 be possible without the college鈥檚 assistance.

鈥淚鈥檓 thankful for all of the support CEDHP has provided over the past four years. We would have never received our sixth place ranking as one of the best Ph.D. Exercise Physiology programs in the country. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 most proud of at CEDHP.鈥�

Hour of Code is a national campaign that promotes computer coding. Last year鈥檚 event featured President Obama writing his first line of code and made history by having more than 100 million participants.

This year鈥檚 Hour of Code, which coincided with Computer Science Education Week, attracted more than 100 attendees for its inaugural event at 麻豆原创.

The space-themed adventure included 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� games designed with a coding module on a smart phone, tablet or laptop instructed by BASE Camp Children鈥檚 Cancer Foundation 10-year-old twins Avery and Grayson Zrelak, interactive challenges like Storm Trooper bowling with Wonder Workshop鈥檚 Dash robots and recorded messages from President Obama and 鈥淪tar Wars: The Force Awakens鈥� engineers, discussing the coding process and how to create a game with computer code.

麻豆原创 College of Education and Human Performance鈥檚 mathematics education assistant professor Megan Nickels organized this year鈥檚 Hour of Code festivities with her CEDHP Pediatric Interest Group-Education (pig-e) student organization. The group features 21 elementary education undergraduate students from Nickels鈥� math content course.

鈥淧ig-e is helping me with robotics, but I鈥檓 also preparing the students to be educators,鈥� says Nickels. 鈥淚 feel future educators should get exposure and seek out as many different educational settings as possible, some of which may make them feel uncomfortable, so they can see enough and know to find their passion within our profession.鈥�

Nickels has been teaching critically ill children mathematics with LEGO and Wonder Workshop鈥檚 Dash and Dot robots ever since she volunteered at the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Illinois in Peoria, Ill., a St. Jude鈥檚 Hospital affiliate clinic where she provided educational services while she was pursuing her doctoral degree in mathematics education from Illinois State University.

She uses the Dash and Dot robots to teach the children math. The building process uses algebraic, geometric and other mathematic concepts for developing the robot鈥檚 think tank. The children became attached to the robots and had an opportunity to program the mathematical learning tools to be a shark, play rock paper scissors or whatever their heart desires.

鈥淚t became really clear that there was a big need to have an exposure to meaningful mathematics,鈥� explains Nickels. 鈥淚鈥檓 researching how children with cancer and other chronic illnesses learn mathematics through robotics and how that affects their conceptual understanding of mathematics and physiological and socio-emotional well-being.鈥�

In Orlando, Nickels is continuing her mission by teaching children mathematics with robotics at area hospitals through BASE Camp Children鈥檚 Cancer Foundation.

During Hour of Code, attendees had an opportunity to program their own robots and play games.

鈥淚 enjoyed looking at the crowd and seeing them engrossed with the ‘Star Wars’ coding module,” said Nickels. “They learned coding skills and put them into practice with the Wonder Workshop鈥檚 Dash robots. Computer science is now, and the rock stars of tomorrow are coders.鈥�

Web engineer Amado Gonzalez was amazed with how quickly the area school children learned the computer coding when they programmed their Dash robots with tablets and smart phones. He also felt this year鈥檚 theme was engaging and fun.

鈥淭ying Hour of Code with ‘Star Wars,’ which is a global phenomenon, is great because the kids can see real-world applications of what coding does and how it鈥檚 programmed.鈥�

Elementary education student Karly Nelson loved the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� theme and was fascinated with her Dash robot. She played Storm Trooper bowling and was able to knock some of the cups down with her robot, which was programmed by her smart phone. Nelson was impressed with Dash and its capabilities and feels computer coding is the wave of the future.

鈥淓verything is tech-based now. Daily lives also revolve around their cell phone. Your computer is in your hand constantly. Understanding how that computer works and building a phone with computer code will be common place.”

is associate professor of English at Central Michigan University, and his work centers on teaching writing, literacy, and technology. As director of CMU鈥檚聽Chippewa River Writing Project, Dr. Hicks has direct experience with the changing nature of writing and the advent of digital literacy, and he synthesizes that information into his teacher training and student lessons.

Author, educator, and international speaker offers a presentation focused on engaging students, especially those students who are the most disengaged from the classroom or the subject.

National education consultant Cheryl Ellis of will offer a unique and informative presentation on Examining the DNA of Writing 鈥� digging into the real building blocks of literacy to help students advance their skills and their interest.

, author and distinguished literacy professor, will offer attendees a framework for engaging learners in reading and writing for the 21st century.

In addition to these presentations, several sessions centered around writing and literacy are planned, including preparing students for the new Florida Standards Assessment, principles of effective writing instruction, teacher and peer feedback on student writing, assistive technology tools for writing, and many others.

Executive director Wendy Stevens and deputy director Laurie Lee from will present a fascinating talk on how to read like a writer 鈥� and how to get your students to do so too. Renowned literacy scholar and author and educational consultant and author Roberta Berglund are preparing a talk on the Florida language arts standards, and arts educator Mary Palmer will speak to how the arts can be a pathway to successful reading and writing instruction.

2015 Florida Teacher of the Year presentation will focus on reading, writing, and literacy in specific content areas, while 2014 Florida Teacher of the Year Dorina Sackman will share with attendees the winning recipe for developing literacy and content learning for students in 6-12 grades.

Additional presenters include senior research fellow at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government , Florida DOE writing specialist Julia Somers-Arthur, award-winning children鈥檚 author/illustrator Ethan Long, education director , and reading educator, author, and symposium organizer Vicky Zygouris-Coe.

The 17th annual Literacy Symposium takes place April 3rd at the Education Complex and Teaching Academy buildings on the 麻豆原创 campus. To find out more about the Symposium or to register, visit the聽.

For the 10th anniversary event, Dr. Karen Verkler and interim Dean Grant Hayes hosted聽Carrie Morgridge, Vice President of the聽, who gave a special address to the teacher candidates, staff, and faculty in attendance.聽Ms. Morgridge explained the Foundation’s commitment to education, telling the students in attendance that they we entering “the most honorable field in the country.”

“The Morgridge Family Foundation holds teachers in the highest regard,” Ms. Morgridge stated. “You are going to be the change agents for our future kids. You are our future; you are making a difference each and every day.”

She also urged the room full of teacher candidates to “look to each other, lean on each other. Look here, to the people here” for the support, advice, and guidance that will be needed in a changing education landscape.

鈥淭he Morgridge Family Foundation has been one of the partner organizations at the forefront of advancing the field, especially here at the College of Education and Human Performance,鈥� interim Dean said. 鈥淢s. Morgridge has for many years shown her passion for and commitment to the improvement of education, and that enthusiasm and hope for the future were evident in her presentation to our HAPPY Hour Student Showcase attendees. It is a wonderful gift to have an ally that believes in and works towards the advancement of education in partnership with our faculty, staff, and students.鈥�

Ms. Morgridge’s philanthropic efforts focus on all fields of education, including science, arts, mathematics, and more, including gifts to several colleges of education (麻豆原创 being among them). Her experiences with the Morgridge Family Foundation led her to recently publish a book, “,” which relates stories about the power of charitable giving, from the smallest contributions to larger foundation efforts. The book also touches on how strategy and networking can make even small donations exceptionally effective.聽In recognition of her many projects focused on developing future generations of teachers, the College of Education and Human Performance presented Ms. Morgridge with the inaugural Luminary Leadership Award, which is conferred annually to individuals and organizations that inspire and influence the transformation of education.

This year the conference’s theme focuses on collaboration across the helping professions, and the internationalization of the counseling field – recognizing and preparing for the needs of students, clients, and professionals throughout the different regions and cultures of the world. Nearly all of the sessions will incorporate information related to the internationalization of counseling and other helping professions, including the blending of best practices and various approaches to global issues.

“A lot of international students are coming into the United States for training, so how do we prepare them to make the lessons applicable both here and back home?聽When it comes to international counseling, the lines are not as clearly defined as they are in the United States,” says聽, doctoral student in 麻豆原创’s Counselor Education program and lead coordinator for this year鈥檚 counseling conference. “So a conference like this is meant to bring all of the helping professions in the United States together. Some of them have had international experiences that they share with us, and the international students are able to take this information home and apply it.”

This year’s keynote speaker,聽Dr. Jeffrey Kottler, is professor of counseling at California State University in Fullerton, and has authored dozens of highly regarded books about the counseling profession. His presentation, entitled聽Stories We鈥檝e Heard, Stories We鈥檝e Told: Life-Changing Narratives in the Helping Professions, will offer attendees an expansive view of one of the universal parts of human experience that can be extremely useful to the counseling profession – storytelling. The stories that we tell, live, see, hear, and experience all influence our ways of thinking and understanding, and utilizing that shared human practice can be beneficial to counselors and clients alike.

鈥淥ne of the unique things about this conference is how intentionally we have sought to collaborate with colleagues from the other helping professions,鈥� says Dr. Bryce Hagedorn, program director of Counselor Education at 麻豆原创. 鈥淎nother aspect that makes this conference unique is its emphasis on international issues and how those impact the clients we serve. Students and practitioners alike will be exposed to some of the newer, evidence-based practices in an effort to equip them to better serve clients in the community.鈥�

Additional presentations will include cultural immersion and the counselor trainee, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its application at home and abroad, discussions about the part that each of the helping professionals plays in addressing client problems, and the academic needs of international students in US counseling programs.

罢丑别听7th Annual 麻豆原创 Counseling Conference聽takes place at the 麻豆原创聽 and buildings on the 麻豆原创 campus. On-site registration will be available, and students, faculty, and professionals in the counseling fields are encouraged to attend.