Kent State Professor Kimberly Peer Named Fellow of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association

Kimberly Peer, Ed.D., Athletic Training Education Program undergraduate and graduate coordinator and associate professor at Kent State, has been named a fellow of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).

The title of fellow within the NATA is held in high standards with only the most accomplished scholars earning this distinction. Candidates must be 10-year members of the NATA and must have been board certified for 10 years.  Their research efforts and advancement of the profession need to be significant, and their educational contributions need to be visible at the undergraduate, graduate and doctorate levels.

Peer works in the College of Education, Health and Human Services, and has served Kent State for 13 years.  She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Kent State University and continued her studies at Western Michigan, where she earned her Master of Arts degree.  Peer completed her Doctorate of Education at the University of Akron. 

She has been an active member of the Ohio  Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame (OATA) and served as an executive officer from 2000-2009. Peer has also served on committees at the state and district levels and has earned many honors throughout her professional career.  She will be inducted into the OATA Hall of Fame in May. 

She also has served as associate editor of the Athletic Training Education Journal, editorial board member for Journal of Athletic Training, and visiting scholar at DePauw University Prindle Ethics Institute. 

Peer’s research focus is mainly about ethics in athletic training. She serves on the NATA’s Ethics Education Project Chair and CAATE Ethics committees.  Peer has nearly 100 scholarly presentations on athletic training and related topics, and co-authored Professional Ethics in Athletic Training.

"Being recognized for my contributions to advancing the scholarship and research in the athletic training profession as a fellow of the NATA is quite humbling,” says Peer. “I have focused my entire career on advancing this profession and to receive this honor is truly exciting. You never really realize the impact of your lifelong commitment to advancing the profession throughout your career. You simply put your head down and push forward every day to try to gain support and recognition of the profession through committee work, scholarly activity and professional presentations. I have tried to pave the way for the future generations of athletic trainers (my students). They are the driving force behind all I do."

Peer will be awarded this honor at the NATA annual meeting and symposium in St. Louis, Mo. this month. 

For more information, visit www.nata.org.