Establishment of the First UAA Endowed Professorship in the College of Health and Human Performance with Dr. Scott Powers serving as the first chairholder

David R. Colburn, Provost
Jeremy Foley, Athletic Director
Jill Varnes, Dean

We are pleased to announce that the University Athletic Association has donated $750,000 to establish the first UAA Professorship in the College of Health and Human Performance.

The College has selected Dr. Scott K. Powers, Professor and Director of the Center for Exercise Science, to hold the UAA professorship. Dean Varnes noted, “It is especially significant that Professor Scott Powers, one of the most highly recognized exercise physiologists in the world be named to this position.”

Powers earned an Ed.D. from the University of Tennessee in Exercise physiology in 1980 and also earned a Ph.D. in physiology from Louisiana State University in 1985. His research interests focus on cardiac and skeletal muscle function in both health and disease. Specifically, Powers’ research has investigated exercise-induced changes in cardiac antioxidant systems and the role of antioxidants and “stress proteins” in providing myocardial protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury. Further, Dr. Power’s laboratory is studying the contribution of free radicals to respiratory muscle dysfunction during prolonged mechanical ventilation.

His research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Florida Biomedical Research Program, and the American Lung Association. Power’s has amassed over $10.7 million in external grant funds, serving as principal investigator on 15 different studies and co-investigator on 3. He is the co-author of four textbooks, numerous book chapters, and has contributed to over 140 scientific papers in high impact journals such as the American Journal of Physiology, Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine, American Journal of Critical Care Medicine, and the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Powers is a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. As a colleague Scott Powers is a consistent force in helping others to achieve success. Funds from the endowment will be used by Dr. Powers to support his research activities in the Center for Exercise Science.