Dr. R. Richard Ray Jr., who is the dean for the social sciences and a professor of kinesiology at Hope College, will receive the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association Golden Pinnacle Award on Friday, March 12, during the GLATA Winter Meeting being held in Detroit.
Dr. R. Richard Ray Jr., who is the dean for the social sciences and a professor of kinesiology at Hope College, will receive the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association Golden Pinnacle Award on Friday, March 12, during the GLATA Winter Meeting being held in Detroit.
Ray has been extensively involved in the discipline of athletic training at the regional and national level. He was co-chair of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Education Task Force, was president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association (GLATA) from 1990 to 1992, and is also a member and former president of the Michigan Athletic Trainers' Society. He is former editor of the professional journal "Athletic Therapy Today" and served as associate editor of the "Journal of Athletic Training."
He has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1982, and has been dean for the social sciences since 2008. For several years, he was the college's head athletic trainer and developed the academic program in athletic training at Hope.
Under his leadership, the college's athletic training program grew into a full major. Hope was one of the first Michigan colleges to have its athletic training program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).
Ray has received multiple honors through the years in recognition of his service to his profession and teaching. In June 2006, he was elected to the NATA Hall of Fame, the highest honor in the athletic training profession. In March 2004, he received an "Outstanding Educator Award" from GLATA, from which he had also received a "Distinguished Service Award" in March 2002. In June 2001, he received the "Sayers 'Bud' Miller Distinguished Educator Award" from NATA. In May of 1999, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Michigan Athletic Trainers' Society, which had presented him with its "Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award" in 1995. In September 2009, he received the Career Achievement Award from the Kinesiology Alumni Society of the University of Michigan.
Ray has a wide range of research interests, and has received several grants to support his work. He is the editor or author of the books "Management Strategies in Athletic Training" (2005, 2000, 1994), "Counseling in Sports Medicine" (1999) and "Case Studies in Athletic Training Administration" (1995), all published by Human Kinetics.
Ray is a 1979 graduate of the University of Michigan and completed his master's and doctorate from Western Michigan University in 1980 and 1990 respectively.
GLATA includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The association represents approximately 22 percent of the total membership of the national association. Members serve in settings including high schools, colleges and universities, professional sports organizations, physician offices, rehabilitation clinics and industrial work sites.