Jon Almquist, ATC, VATL - 2014
Recognized for elevating athletic training at the secondary school level, Jon Almquist has served the Fairfax County Public Schools System as an athletic trainer, teacher and administrator for more than 30 years. Dedicated to addressing and reducing sports-related concussions, Almquist has improved secondary school athletic training through his research and instruction. Through his service to the Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association, he has worked to pass legislation in his home state. An avid volunteer, Almquist served the NATA as a member of the Pronouncements Committee, the NATA Inter-Association Task Force for Appropriate Care of the Spine, and as chair of the Secondary School Athletic Trainers’ Committee.

 

 

Warren Ariail - 1977
1924-2013
Warren Ariail graduated from Wofford College in 1948 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps; he then became Wofford’s first athletic trainer. His 54-year career took him throughout the country, to athletic training settings ranging from high school to professional sports to clinics. Ariail also appeared in two movies and was a technical advisor for a Charlton Heston film. He is retired and living in South Carolina.

 

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Edward Block – 1974
1914 – 1983
Ed Block was a friend, confidant and healer for the Baltimore Colts from 1954-77. The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation now advocates for children in crisis. In addition to caring for the Colts, Block worked with area Baltimore hospitals and with the in-space conditioning program for NASA.

 

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Andy Clawson – 2001
Andy Clawson has been the head athletic trainer/director of sports medicine at The Citadel since 1973. Throughout his career he has served at the state, district and national levels. Additionally, Clawson chaired the advisory committee that oversaw the Legal Practice Act for Athletic Trainers’ employment in South Carolina.

 

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Billy Fallon – 1962
1890-unknown
From 1947-57 Bill Fallon was head athletic trainer at the Naval Academy, previously serving athletes at Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin, California, St. Mary’s and the Navy Pre-Flight School. Fallon also cared for the 1920, 1932, 1936 and 1952 U.S. Olympic Teams.

 

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Joe Howard Gieck – 1990
Joe Gieck was an educator and athletic trainer at the University of Virginia for 43 years before retiring in 2005. He served on the Advisory Board of Physical Therapy for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sport. A scholarship is endowed in his name, as is a teaching position. He is a professor emeritus at UVA.

 

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Paul Grace – 1996
Paul Grace’s legacy to the profession lies in the credibility of the credential. Grace chaired the Board of Certification and later served as BOC executive director. He was president of the EATA and the National Organization for Competency Assurance, and he worked as the coordinator of sports medicine at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a clinical instructor in athletic training at Northeastern University. He is now an executive with the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.

 

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Chester Grant – 1986
1906 – 1982
An assistant athletic trainer for more than 30 years at North Carolina State University, Chester Grant was considered a model example of professionalism, compassion and expertise. In 1974, North Carolina State presented Grant with a Distinguished Service Award and has since named its athletic training facility in Reynolds Coliseum in his memory.

 

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A. C. Gwynne - 1965

1910 – 1982

A. C. “Whitey” Gwynne devoted his entire career to the advancement of athletic training. A graduate of West Virginia University, Gwynne was an athletic trainer for the Mountaineers for 30+ years. He also worked with two Olympic basketball teams, including the 1972 team that lost to the Soviet Union in one of the most controversial Olympic moments.

 

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Fred Hoover - 1981

Fred Hoover graduated from Florida State University and worked as an athletic trainer there before taking a job at Clemson University in 1959. He remained at Clemson until his retirement in 1998. Hoover, who was chair of the NATA board from 1964-67, remains a professor emeritus at Clemson.

 

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John E. Lacey - 1977

1913 – 2003

For more than 30 years John Lacey was successful with championship teams and great athletes. From 1956-83, as head athletic trainer at the University of North Carolina, Lacey and the Tar Heels football team made it to six bowl games. In 1972 he was an athletic trainer for the Olympic Games in Munich. Lacey also served as an athletic trainer for the gold medal-winning 1964 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team in Tokyo.

 

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Roland “Kickapoo” Logan - 1971

1908 – 1984

Roland “Kickapoo” Logan, the founder, editor and publisher of “Athletic Training News” from 1949-58, started in 1930 at the University of Kansas, later working at George Washington, Pittsburgh, West Point, North Carolina, Navy, Pasadena College and the Boston Red Sox. Logan invented more than 20 athletic training products, lectured at 400+ clinics and was an accomplished artist, winning the American Institute of Fine Arts medal for his original oil paintings.

 

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Thomas F. Lutz - 1962

1908 – 1954

Thomas “Fitz” Lutz is remembered for inventing a facemask that saved a season for a Georgia Bulldogs star and kept the team rolling through its Golden Era. Lutz, UGA’s head athletic trainer from 1938-42, was the Baltimore Colts’ head athletic trainer for three seasons before going to the University of North Carolina in 1950.

 

 

Malissa Martin, EdD, ATC - 2015

Malissa Martin is a renowned educator and researcher whose work in professional development has dramatically improved the athletic training profession. A nationally recognized presenter with more than 200 presentations to her credit, Martin has authored several books and more than 100 publications. She developed the first home study programs in athletic training and chaired the first NATA Athletic Training Educators’ Conference, where she has been a key presenter since 1996. Martin was the first woman to be elected as president of the South Carolina Athletic Trainers’ Association and her service and career accomplishments have been recognized with numerous awards. Currently, Martin is a Professor, Associate Vice Provost and Graduate Program Director of Athletic Training at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

 

 

Leonard D. "Mack" McNeal - 1988

1923 – 1998

For four decades, Leonard “Mack” McNeal was an integral part of the University of Richmond. He began as head athletic trainer in 1947 and eventually became chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education. He was active, serving on the NATA board and later leading efforts to organize NATA’s archives.

 

 

Edward N. Motley - 1981

Ed Motley excelled in football and baseball as a student at William & Mary University. After a stint in the Army, he coached for 10 years at the high school level and eventually came to Virginia Tech in 1952 as athletic trainer in charge of all sports. Motley served as athletic trainer for all women’s athletics at Virginia Tech from 1978 until his retirement.

 

 

Herb Patchin - 1962

1902 – 1963

Herb Patchin, who studied with Matt Bullock at the University of Illinois, became the head athletic trainer at Virginia Military Institute in 1929, remaining at VMI the rest of his life. In addition to being a member of VMI’s Sports Hall of Fame by special citation, the baseball field bears Patchin’s name.

 

 

David Perrin - 2003

David Perrin is a longtime advocate of clinical research, having been editor-in-chief of the Journal of Athletic Training and founder of the Sports Medicine and Athletic Training Research Laboratory at the University of Virginia. Perrin’s name now graces an award for doctoral dissertations. He is provost and executive vice chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

 

 

William E. Prentice - 2004

William Prentice is recognized as a prolific author, educator, and clinician. Most noted as the author of nine textbooks, Prentice worked as a Professor and Coordinator of the Sports Medicine Program at the University of North Carolina throughout his entire career. A NATA Research & Education Foundation scholarship is presented annually in his name.

 

 

Sandra J. Shultz, PhD, ATC, FNATA - 2015

Sandra Shultz is a celebrated educator, researcher and clinician whose impact on the profession is immeasurable. She is considered a national leader in ACL research and her focus on the underlying sex-dependent factors that contribute to a female’s higher risk knee biomechanics and increased susceptibility to ACL injury is recognized throughout the medical and scientific communities as benchmark work in the field. Shultz has served the profession through numerous leadership positions, including service as chair of the Convention Program and Fellows Committees, and as a member of the NATA Research & Education Foundation Research Committee and the NATA Pronouncements Committee and Strategic Planning Task Force. Shultz, who is currently a professor at UNC- Greensboro, has influenced the profession through the countless students she has educated and mentored.

 

 

Henry Alvin “Buddy” Taylor - 1981

1929 – 2003

An athletic trainer since 1948, Buddy Taylor got his start with the Richmond Rams semi-pro football team. He served as head athletic trainer and assistant professor at Winston Salem State University beginning in 1974. Taylor made a name as an excellent lecturer, author and teacher of athletic training skills and served as athletic trainer for various international athletic teams.

 

 

Bill Tessendorf, MA, ATC - 2012

William “Bill” Tessendorf’s legacy as an athletic trainer will be his efforts to advance the profession and create more opportunities for his colleagues. Tessendorf has worked as an athletic trainer in the National Football League for nearly four decades, including more than 20 years with the Cleveland Browns and a Super Bowl win with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. Tessendorf has shown his commitment to his profession by serving as president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association. He was the first to represent athletic trainers on the NFL Injury & Safety panel, advocating for player safety and injury prevention for nearly two decades.

 

 

D. Rod Walters, II - 2005

Rod Walters, a former NATA board member, has served as a product development consultant for Nike, Riddell, 3M Healthcare and United Pacific. He also has worked with Donjoy to successfully launch the Velocity, an off-the-shelf rigid ankle brace. He was an assistant athletic director at the University of South Carolina until 2007, when he launched his own consulting business.

 

 

 

Alfred J. Wyre - 1966

1906 – 1968

Alfred “Duke” Wyre, head athletic trainer at the University of Maryland from 1947-67, was a founding member of NATA and was president of the Southern Conference Trainers Association in 1948. Wyre invented the “Duke Wyre Shoulder Vest” protective pad for football players, and he was among the earliest to use the precursor equipment to laser therapy.

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