2026 Award Winners
Congratulations to the NSCA's 2026 awardees for their dedication and contributions to the NSCA and the field of strength and conditioning.
2026 Career Award Winners
Boyd Epley Award for NSCA Lifetime Contributions:
John Graham
John Graham is the Senior Network Administrator for Lifestyle Health & Wellness, Fitness & Sports Performance at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He is pursuing his Doctorate of Health Sciences at East Stroudsburg University and has served as an adjunct professor at multiple colleges and universities. Graham’s service to the NSCA spans governance, certification, education, and...
NSCA Alvin Roy Award for Career Legacy:
Bud S. Bjornaraa
Bud S. Bjornaraa is a retired high school teacher and coach whose career in education, coaching, and strength and conditioning spans more than four decades. After completing 41 years as a professional educator and coach, Bjornaraa continued serving as an instructor for a career program in carpentry and construction before volunteering in track and field at Pequot Lakes High School from 2013 to the present. As of 2026...
NSCA Impact Award:
Loren Landow
Loren Landow is a world-renowned strength and conditioning expert with more than 27 years of experience at all levels of elite athlete training. He is the Trematerra Family Director of Football Performance at the University of Notre Dame, where he began in 2024. During his time at Notre Dame, the Irish advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship game for the 2024 season and won the 2025 Sugar Bowl and...
2026 Coaching Award Winners
Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award:
Fernando Noriega
Fernando Noriega serves as Director of Player Performance and Sports Science and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. With more than a decade of NFL experience, he oversees player workload management, sports science, strength and conditioning, and nutrition. Noriega has coached in multiple Super Bowls and helped the...
College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award:
Dan Perlmutter
Dan Perlmutter serves as Director of Sports Performance and Head Olympic Sports Performance Coach at Duke University. He manages eight sports performance coaches who train 24 Blue Devil Olympic sports teams and oversees performance training for baseball and men’s soccer. Since joining Duke in 2009 after five years at Harvard University, Perlmutter has...
High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Award:
Jesse Padgett
Jesse Padgett has served as a Sports Performance Specialist for Nationwide Children’s Hospital for seven years. Based at Bexley High School, he oversees programming for all high school athletics and multiple middle school programs. During his tenure, Padgett has supported multiple individual state champions. Before joining Nationwide Children’s, he spent six years as a strength...
Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year:
Ashley Kowalewski
Ashley Kowalewski is an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), where she works with Olympic sports, primarily volleyball and women’s tennis. Her background includes extensive work with overhead and rotational athletes, as well as broader experience across diverse performance demands. Kowalewski is recognized for...
2026 Professional Award Winners
Personal Trainer of the Year: Rachel Selman
Dr. Rachel Selman is a strength and conditioning coach, physical therapist, and performance specialist in Charlotte, NC. With a chemistry background from Georgia Tech and a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Mercer University, she brings an integrated approach to training, physical therapy, and performance. Dr. Selman has advanced training in pelvic health and running biomechanics and authored the first clinical commentary in the...
Sports Medicine/Return to Performance Specialist Award:
Jennifer Novak
Jennifer Novak has more than two decades of experience helping athletes and active individuals overcome musculoskeletal and neuromuscular issues in post-rehabilitation settings. With a Master of Science in Kinesiology, a graduate certificate in orthopedic injury, her CSCS, and postgraduate functional neurology coursework in her toolkit, she enjoys providing return-to-performance strategies...
Educator of the Year:
Antonio Squillante
Antonio Squillante is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego and a visiting professor in the Division of Physical Therapy at the University of Rome in Italy. He earned his PhD in Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California. With nearly two decades of experience as a strength and conditioning coach, Squillante has worked across collegiate athletics and...
Nutritional Research Achievement Award: Brandon Roberts
Dr. Brandon Roberts is a physiologist in the U.S. Army at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. His research focuses on developing solutions to challenges that affect military readiness. His work spans nutrition, musculoskeletal physiology, and pharmacologic interventions to support recovery, resilience, and operational performance.
Terry J. Housh Outstanding Young Investigator Award: Drew Gonzalez
Dr. Drew Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Sam Houston State University, where he directs the Occupational Performance and Nutrition Laboratory. He earned his PhD in Exercise Physiology from Texas A&M University, where his research focused on the intersection of exercise physiology, nutrition, and...
William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award: Brad Schoenfeld
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld is a Professor of Exercise Science at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, where he serves as Director of the Graduate Program in Human Performance and Fitness. He earned his PhD in Health Promotion and Wellness from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions, with dissertation research focused on...2026 Special Recognition Award Winners
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (JSCR) Editorial Excellence Award: Gerald T. Mangine
Dr. Gerald T. Mangine is Director of the Wellstar Research Center on Human Sport Performance and Wellbeing and a Professor in the Department of Exercise Science and Sport Management at Kennesaw State University. His work focuses on integrating research and practice to improve athletic performance. Dr. Mangine has served extensively as both a senior editor and reviewer for the JSCR, approaching each submission with respect for the work behind it and relying on peer reviewer...
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (JSCR) Editorial Excellence Award: Shawn Arent
Dr. Shawn M. Arent is Professor and Chair of the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina and Director of the USC Sport Science Lab. He earned his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Exercise Science from Arizona State University after completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on relationships between training, nutrition, and stress and their implications for health, performance, and recovery. Dr. Arent is a Fellow of the American...
Strength and Conditioning Journal (SCJ) Editorial Excellence Award:
John F. Holland
John F. Holland is a Clinical Exercise Physiologist in Cardiology Diagnostics, working in outpatient and hospital-based settings. His work integrates clinical exercise physiology, strength and conditioning, and data-informed decision-making to support safe, effective outcomes in patient and performance contexts. Holland serves as a Subject Matter Expert for the NSCA, a reviewer for the SCJ, and contributes to accreditation and education through the Council on Accreditation of Strength and...
State/Provincial Director of the Year Award:
Zachary Gillen
Dr. Zachary Gillen has served as NSCA State Director for Mississippi since 2022. He has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Mississippi State University since 2020 and directs the Resistance Exercise Performance Lab. He has been an author or co-author on over 50 peer-reviewed papers, over 80 conference proceedings and presentations, 5 book chapters, and has served as principal investigator (PI) or co-principal...
ELEVATE Award:
Rodney Gaines
Dr. Rodney Gaines is a Collegiate Associate Professor at Virginia Tech and Chair of the NSCA Health and Wellness Special Interest Group (SIG). An NSCA Member for more than 25 years and CSCS-certified since 1997, Dr. Gaines previously served two terms as NSCA Virginia State Director, was NSCA MidAtlantic Regional Director, and served on the NSCA Board of Directors from 2010 to 2013. He has also served as a lead instructor for NSCA Exam Prep...
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