Kansas State University

MANHATTAN — Craig Harms, professor and authority on exercise physiology, has been named head of the kinesiology department in Kansas State University's College of Human Ecology.

The appointment is effective June 8.

"I am very excited that Dr. Craig Harms will step into the role of head in the kinesiology department," said John Buckwalter, dean of the College of Human Ecology. "He will continue the tradition of strong leadership."

David Dzewaltowski, who led the department for 14 years, is stepping aside to spend more time on research on community-based interventions promoting physical activity in children, he said.

Harms received a master's degree in exercise physiology from Colorado State University and doctorate from Indiana University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in cardiopulmonary physiology at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. He joined the Kansas State University kinesiology department in 1997 and has served as associate department head and undergraduate coordinator.

His research focuses on cardiopulmonary limitations to exercise, including gas exchange, respiratory muscle pressure development and ventilatory output in health and in disease throughout the lifespan. He is also interested in gender differences in these responses and how lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity affects airway inflammation and pulmonary function.

He is a fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine.

Harms received the 2014 Myers-Alford Teaching Award established to honor a College of Human Ecology faculty member who demonstrates outstanding ability not only in teaching undergraduate and graduate students, but also in providing valuable information to colleagues, peers and other practitioners in the field.

He also has received the university's Presidential Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching and the William L. Stamey Teaching Award.

He has published extensively and has many scientific presentations. Extramural funding for his research has come from the National Institutes of Health, American Lung Association, American Heart Association and other agencies.

Harms has served on the national board of trustees for the American College of Sports Medicine and is currently associate editor-in-chief of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise Journal, is on the editorial board of several journals and is a peer reviewer for other professional journals.

The kinesiology department offers an undergraduate degree, a concurrent Bachelor of Science/Master of Science degree in kinesiology, a concurrent Bachelor of Science in kinesiology/Master of Public Health, a master's degree in two tracks — physiological basis of physical activity and public health physical activity behavior — and a doctorate.