As a key developer of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Laura Kann assess the actual (rather than presumed) risk behaviors of American adolescents. This research provides vital information to policy makers in school systems, health departments, and social and child welfare agencies.

By means of her survey results, Kann has enabled communities and states to provide meaningful and effective programs to reduce violence, drug and alcohol use, and the spread of HIV/AIDS among our nation's youth.

William Yarber, a specialist in health education and safety and a former teacher of Kann's at IU, says "Dr. Kann is one of our shining beacons. We applaud her leadership in developing a valuable national system...that will enhance and preserve the health of the nation's youth."

In 1997, the American Public Health Assocation gave Kann its Young Professional Award, and in 1998, she received an Honor Award from the Centers for Disease Control for developing a CD-ROM of health risk behavior data for use by public health professionals. Kann served as president fo the American School Health Association, 1997-98.

A successful researcher, communicator, and teacher, Michael G. Davis contributes to his profession through his far-sighted leadership. He was president of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) in 1993-94. Two years later, Davis left the University of Wisconsin system--where he had served as a departmental chair, director, assistant dean, and associate dean--to take over the permanent administrator of AAHPERD as executive vice president.

Davis runs the daily workings of the organization and partners with its board and annually-elected president to ensure the success of the AAHPERD mission: to promote creative and health-enhancing lifestyles for all Americans. Jill Varnes, curent president of the Alliance, says of Davis, "Mike brings an important perspective to the Alliance office. We are fortunate to have his ability and vision at this point in our history."

A national authority on swimming pool management and co-author of four books on aquatic and other recreation resources, Phillip Rea provides leadership in park and recreation management to academia and to national professional organizations. He is head of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University and chairs the Past Presidents Council of the Society of Park and Recreation Educators.

From his undergraduate post as student body president at West Liberty State College in West Virginia, through his years as assistant superintendent and then superintendent of Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, to his involvement in academia and professional organizations, Rea has excelled throughout his career. He has served on the Governor's Youth Fitness Committee in North Carolina, 1993-97; was president of the Society of Park and Recreation Educators, 1993; chaired the Legislative Committee of the North Carolina Recreation and Park Society, 1995-96; and served as Secretary of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, 1997.

The postwar period in America saw great changes in health education, and C. Harold Veenker was among the pioneer educators who led the transformation. After service in wartime as a Marine Corps officer, Veenker worked for nine years as a public school teacher before coming to IU to obtain his doctorate. As a result of these early experiences, Veenker always maintained a balance between the practical and the theoretical in health education.

Starting as an assistant professor at Purdue University in 1957, Veenker rose to become an associate professor in 1961, and a full professor in 1966. Veenker served as chairman of the Health Education Section at Purdue from 1961 through 1976. He wrote the Veenker Health Knowledge Test and was the editor of the first Synthesis of Research in Health Instruction, a series that has become a standard reference in the field. In 1969, he served as president of the Indiana Association of Health Educators. Now retired, Veenker lives in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Lifelong political activist and community leader, Marian Godeke Miller also devotes her talents and experience to the benefit of Indiana University. A delegate to several Republican national conventions and a past president of the Indiana Federation of Republican Women, Miller is a leader in the Republican party at the local, statewide, and national levels, and currently serves as a vice president of the National Federation of Republican Women.

Miller brings her broad political experience to President Brand's Legislative Advisory Group and is on the steering committee of Hoosiers for Higher Education, a volunteer lobbying group for Indiana University. She also is a member of the IU Foundation's national volunteer network and the School of HPER's Endowment Campaign Cabinet. She and her husband have recently endowed the Marian Godeke Miller Lecture. A past president of the United Way of Greater Lafayette, Miller has twice received the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the governor of Indiana. In 1995, the Indiana Alumni Association presented her with the President's Award for her service to the university.

Formerly the Indiana Pacers' Vice President for Marketing and Public Relations, Sandy Knapp is now a nationally known independent consultant in the field of sports marketing. She also provides leadership to professional organizations and bears a distinguished record in volunteering her talents to promote sports in America. Knapp served as president and executive director of the Indiana Sports Corporation from 1980 to 1991, has served as chair of the United States Olympic Committee's site selection committee for Winter Olympic bid cities, was on the board of directors of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, and served as co-chair of the site selection committee for the 1998 Goodwill Games.

Knapp leads a project vital to HPER in her role as chair of the school's Academic Endowment Campaign. At the same time, she lends her energy and talents to professional organizations. She is chair of USA Gymnastics, and a member of the board of directors of the Indiana Sports Corporation, the National Gymnastics Foundation, and the United States Olympic Committee. In 1988, HPER's Department of Recreation and Park Administration awarded Knapp its Distinguished Alumni Award.