William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award
Recipients of the William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award are recognized for exemplary contributions and breakthroughs in the field of applied exercise and sport science.
Congratulations to the 2022 Winner!
Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA
Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA, FACSM, FISSN is Professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, where she serves as the Director of the Applied Physiology Lab. She is also an affiliate faculty in the Departments of Nutrition and Allied Health Sciences. She is an active researcher in the field of body composition, metabolism, sport nutrition and exercise performance, with a special interest in female health, leading projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and International and National industry sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Smith-Ryan contributes to the current body of scientific literature with over 165 peer-reviewed manuscripts; a number of scholastic books and book chapters, and international/national presentations. She was recognized by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as the Nutrition Researcher of the Year (2013) and the Young Investigator of the Year (2015). She served at the liaison for Working on Women in Science at UNC from 2019-2021. Dr. Smith-Ryan has a passion for improving the health and quality of life of others through evidenced-based research.
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Award Eligibility
| Must be a current member of the NSCA |
| Must have a minimum of two years consecutive membership* and 10 years total membership |
| Nominee is active member and contributor of NSCA |
| Working as sports scientist researcher |
| Has not previously won this award |
| A minimum of 10 years have passed since nominee has received doctoral degree |
*Consecutive membership is counted back from the date the award is to be conferred.
Additional requirements listed in the General Awards Criteria, include but not limited to, the nominee must be nominated by a member in good standing and nominees will be sent a criteria sheet to fill out that must be returned before the required deadline.
How are recipients selected?
Excerpt from the NSCA Reaserch Committee Policies and Procedures (updated 7/2019):
- Research-based awards governed by the Awards Subcommittee of the NSCA Research Committee govern the selection of the following awards, based on the 3 nominees (for each award) that will be forwarded to the Awards Subcommittee from Headquarters. Headquarters will be responsible for the initial assessment of the Award Criteria Sheet and include the following awards:
- William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award
- Terry J. Housh Young Investigator of the Year Award
- Nutritional Research Achievement Award
- For the William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award, Terry J. Housh Young Investigator of the Year Award, and the Nutritional Research Award, all recipients are nominated by the NSCA membership through the online nomination system and/or by the Awards Subcommittee of the Research Committee. All nominees then are asked by the NSCA staff to submit relevant materials and all recipients are decided by a standardized scoring system. The top 3 nominees, based on the Awards Criteria Scoresheet will be forwarded to the Awards Subcommittee chair.
- The Awards Subcommittee will organize and verify the top candidates meet the criteria (two separate reviews of each candidate).
- The Chair of the Subcommitee will then produce a summary of each candidate that will include a brief description of the accomplishments of each candidate in the areas listed in the Awards Criteria Sheet (Publications in NSCA & Applied Exercise and Sport Science Publications, Presentations at NSCA and other Conventions, Certification/Education and Research-related service.
- The summaries of the nominees will be sent to the entire RC and past award winners for a vote of the top awardee for each award. If a current member of the RC is nominated for an award, they will be recused from the voting process and all correspondence of that particular award, but are still eligible for nomination and award. If a current member of the RC is also a past winner they shall vote only as an RC member.
- Voting will occur in a weighted manner with 40% contributed by past winners of the award and 60% weight given by RC members. As such, the total weight of the past winners (40%) will be divided by the number of past winners who agree to participate in the voting, and the resulting percent will contribute the weight of each past winners vote. Similarly, the total weight of the RC members (60%) will be divided by the number of Committee members (7), and the resulting percent (approximately 8.57%) will contribute the weight of each Committee member to the voting. The sum of the vote percentages from past winners and Committee members will determine the award winner.
- The chair of the Awards subcommittee will keep record of the entire voting process and will then forward the selected winners for each award to the BOD. If there is a tie, two names for the award will be forwarded to the BOD recommended for dual recipients.
Past Award Recipients Include:
| 2021 - Greg Myer, PhD, CSCS,*D |  |
| 2020 - Michael J. Ormsbee, PhD, CSCS,*D |  |
| 2019 - Jared W. Coburn, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA |  |
| 2017 - Shawn M. Arent, PhD, CSCS,*D, FISSN, FACSM |  |
| 2016 - Michael R. McGuigan, PhD, CSCS |  |
| 2015 - Joel T. Cramer, PhD, CSCS,*D, NSCA-CPT,*D, FNSCA |  |
| 2014 - David Behm, PhD |  |
| 2013 - Jeffrey Stout, PhD, FNSCA, FACSM | |
| 2012 - Jeffrey M. McBride, PhD, CSCS, FNSCA | |
| 2011 - G. Gregory Haff, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA | |
| 2010 - N. Travis Triplett, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA | |
| 2009 - Lee E. Brown, EdD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA | |
| 2008 - Joan M. Eckerson, PhD, CSCS | |
| 2007 - Jay R. Hoffman, PhD, CSCS,*D, FNSCA | |
| 2006 - Joseph P. Weir, PhD | |
| 2005 - Andrew C. Fry, PhD, CSCS | |
| 2004 - Robert U. Newton, PhD, CSCS | |
| 2003 - Lawrence Weiss, EdD, CSCS,*D | |
| 2002 - Michael Bemben, PhD | |
| 2001 - Jerry Mayhew, PhD | |
| 2000 - Stephen E. Alway, PhD | |
| 1999 - Carl M. Maresh, PhD | |
| 1998 - Terry Housh, PhD, FNSCA | |
| 1997 - Robert S. Staron, PhD | |
| 1996 - Gary Dudley, PhD, CSCS | |
| 1995 - Everett Harman, PhD, CSCS, NSCA-CPT | |
| 1994 - Gary Hunter, PhD | |
| 1993 - John Garhammer, PhD, CSCS, NSCA-CPT | |
| 1992 - William Kraemer, PhD, CSCS | |
| 1991 - Steve Fleck, PhD and Mike Stone, PhD |
