UA’s Wright Selected for National Trainer Hall of Fame

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Dr. Kenneth Wright has been selected to enter the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

“This is the highest honor any athletic trainer could receive,” said Wright, a professor and director of the sport management program in the College of Human Environmental Sciences health sciences department.

Induction into the Hall of Fame honors athletic trainers who exemplify the mission of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association through significant, lasting contributions that enhance the quality of health care provided by athletic trainers and advance the profession. To date, more than 250 athletic trainers have been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“Your many contributions have set you apart from your peers and we are extremely proud to honor that dedication to service with entry into the Hall of Fame,” wrote Chuck Kimmel, the association’s honors and awards committee chair, in a letter to Wright.

“This is an award that is a pinnacle of his career,” said Dr. Milla Boschung, dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “Truly, this is a well-deserved honor and recognition for his work in athletic training and sport management. We are so proud of his national reputation in both areas.”

With more than 42 years of experience in the sports industry, Wright has done a little bit of everything. He has served as head athletic trainer at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Morehead State University and as assistant athletic trainer at Ohio University. In 2012, he was appointed as a member of the board of directors of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Since 1990, he served as a doping control officer in which he worked three Olympic Games (London, Vancouver and Salt Lake City). He has also been involved with the United States Olympic Committee as an athletic trainer, educator and invited presenter at numerous sports medicine and sport management meetings in China, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

He has served as a reviewer on 20 athletic training education accreditation visits, and he has numerous publications to his credit including a series of 13 videos, a computer-assisted instructional program and textbooks. Wright has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Athletic Training, Physical Therapy in Sport and Sports Medicine Update, and as chair and/or member on various NATA, USOC and USADA committees.

His passion for the field has not waned over the years. He said it still provides him a sense of excitement.

“(It allows me) the opportunity to become a reflective thinker and allow students to gain experience as it relates to human performance,” he said.

Wright will be inducted June 27 during the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Convention in Indianapolis.