Dr. Steven N. Blair, professor and executive lecturer at the University of South Carolina, will be the guest speaker at the annual Albemarle Lecture to be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Foundation Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center located on the campus of Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Blair is a professor in the Departments of Exercise Science, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics at the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina and executive lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation at the University of North Texas. He is also an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and the College of Education at the University of Houston. Blair is a Benjamin Meaker Fellow at the University of Bristol, England. He is a fellow in the American College of Epidemiology, Society for Behavioral Medicine, American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association, and American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, and he was elected to membership in the American Epidemiological Society.
He is a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine, National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. He is the recipient of three honorary doctoral degrees – Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium; Doctor of Health Science degree from Lander University; and Doctor of Science Honoris Causa from the University of Bristol.
Blair has received awards from many professional associations, including a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, ACSM Honor Award, Robert Levy Lecture Award from the American Heart Association, and is one of the few individuals outside of the U.S. Public Health Service to be awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion. He has delivered lectures to medical, scientific, and lay groups in 48 states and 30 countries. His research focuses on the associations between lifestyle and health, with a specific emphasis on exercise, physical fitness, body composition, and chronic disease. He has published more than 360 papers and chapters in scientific literature and was the senior scientific editor for the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health.
The Albemarle Corporation has underwritten this lectureship endowment. Albemarle Corporation is a leading producer of specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceutical; agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials serving customers in more than 100 countries. SAU and the College of Education extend their sincerest appreciation to the Albemarle Corporation, its Magnolia plant manager, and employees for their dedication to public service and public education in south Arkansas.
