American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Judith C. Young, Ph.D.

Vice President for Programs, American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance

Dr. Judith Young serves as the Vice President for Programs of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. Young coordinates and facilitates all aspects of programming for the national associations of the Alliance. The associations, representing various disciplines in the fields of health, physical education, recreation, and dance, seek to promote and support active and healthy lifestyles through high quality programs, and provide members with professional development opportunities that increase knowledge, improve skills, and encourage sound professional practices.

For 12 years Young served as the executive director of the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE), the only national organization representing Pre-K through 12th grade physical education teachers, curriculum specialists, and teacher preparation faculty. A former teacher and coach as well as professor of kinesiology, Young received her education at the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maryland in kinesiology. She has facilitated a national consensus defining a physically educated person, which led to the development of the National Standards for Physical Education (K-12). Her concerns for American youth participating in sports also helped to develop national standards about what coaches should know and be able to do. Under her stewardship NASPE has established important collaborations which include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Rollerblade, Shape Up America, Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, and other educational and health related organizations. Young participates in numerous collaborative initiatives with the American Academy of Pediatrics, Sports Medicine and Fitness Committee; Healthy People 2010 Consortium; Board of Directors, United States Collegiate Sports Council; Alliance for Curriculum Reform; Society of State Directors of Health, Physical Education, Recreation; and The Council for Corporate and School Partnerships.

A member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance for over 35 years, Young has also been an active member of the National Association for Physical Education in Higher Education, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Society of Association Executives, National Council of Youth Sports, Inc. and Women's Sports Foundation. She was one of the founding members of the North American Society of HPERD Professionals. A productive scholar in the field of physical activity, she has contributed to the body of knowledge through publications in scholarly journals, technical reports, and numerous international, national and regional presentations. She received an Honor Award from AAHPERD in recognition of her many contributions to the field. Her recognized professional expertise is reflected in frequent consultation requests by the professional constituency as well as outside agencies. A parent, grandparent and former youth sport coach, Young is also an active participant in many physical activities such as hiking, bicycling and kayaking.