Dana Brooks, dean of the School of Physical Education at West Virginia University, was recently named president-elect of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) at its convention in Forth Worth, Texas.

As president-elect, Brooks will be the organizations national spokesperson. AAHPERD is the largest nonprofit organization of professionals supporting and assisting those involved in physical education, leisure, fitness, dance, health promotion and education, and all specialties related to achieving a healthy lifestyle, according to its Web site.

In accepting the role, Brooks thanked colleagues and friends throughout the country for their advice, encouragement and support.

My passion is to serve our alliance faculty and accept the leadership baton with humility, honor and deep respect,he said.

In his new leadership role in AAHPERD , Brooks plans to increase recruitment and retention of professionals from diverse backgrounds and to boost membership. He will focus on coalition building, professional network ties, annual open forums, student mentoring and expanding current graduate and undergraduate student leadership conferences.

Additionally, Brooks will work to build on the momentum of the organizations current budget surplus by introducing new revenue sources and initiating a capital campaign for funding to support the groups strategic goals. He also plans to better utilize technology by building on current integrated marketing efforts and using the services of a Web development specialist to develop a state-of-the-art interactive AAHPERD Web site.

In looking toward the future success of the organization, we must focus on the critical importance of strengthening our membership,Brooks said.One way we can achieve growth is to promote opportunities within the ranks of current graduate and undergraduate student leadership, as well as enhance our retention efforts.

We can draw from the wealth of expertise within membership to generate support for our strategic goals, while opening a creative forum for discussion through technology and marketing efforts,he said.

Brooks, an AAHPERD member since 1978, has served as president of the organizations Midwest district and West Virginia group and as editor of the West Virginia AAHPERD Journal. He has been a multiyear member of the organizations Board of Governors and a representative to the groups Alliance Assembly. He has also chaired numerous committees in the organization, including strategic planning, awards and alliance scholar selection.

In addition to his AAHPERD activities, Brooks has also held leadership positions in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, where he has been a member-at-large and was selected as a fellow, and in the Sport Sociology Commission of the International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance. He was recently awarded a fellowship in the North American Society of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Professionals.

Among his many honors, Brooks received AAHPERD s C.D. Henry Award, E.B. Henderson Award, Midwest District Honor and Meritorious Service awards, and the West Virginia AAHPERD Ray O. Duncan Award and Honor Award. WVU awarded him the Social Justice Award and the Martin Luther King Achievement Award, and he received the School of Physical Educations Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award five times.

For the past 20 years, Brooks has served as the project administrator for the WVU School of Physical Educations National Youth Sports Program. He authored or co-authored five books focusing on the African-American sport experience and grants/contracts within the health, physical education, recreation and dance professions.

Brooks received his associate degree from Hagerstown Junior College, where he played on the basketball team for two years, and his bachelors in physical education from Towson State College, now Towson University. He earned masters and doctoral degrees in physical education and sport behavior from WVU .

TheSchool of Physical Education at WVU offers degrees in athletic coaching education, physical education teacher education, athletic training, sport and exercise psychology and sport management. It also offers a wide variety of physical education courses to the WVU student body through its basic instruction component. The schools faculty and academic programs have achieved state, district and national recognition, and its doctorate in kinesiology is the only such program offered in West Virginia.