ASU professor emeritus awarded physical education society's highest honor

Hans Van der Mars, professor emeritus at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, received the 2023 Luther Halsey Gulick Award at the Society of Health and Physical Educators, or SHAPE, America National Convention and Expo on March 30. 

“The Gulick Award honors an individual who exemplifies the highest standards in accomplishment, innovation and leadership,” said SHAPE America CEO Stephanie Morris. 

Throughout his career, Van der Mars has left his mark on physical education, teacher education and sport pedagogy, holding a faculty appointment at Oregon State University for 15 years after previously holding positions at ASU and the University of Maine. He has been an active researcher in sports pedagogy for nearly 40 years, co-authoring more than 150 research papers, professional papers, book chapters, proceedings papers and three textbooks, as well as delivering 290 invited keynote, research and professional presentations at international, national, regional and state conferences. 

Van der Mars regularly hosts workshops for K–12 teachers in physical education and served as co-editor of the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education from 1998 to 2002. A SHAPE America Research Fellow, Van der Mars was also inducted as an active fellow in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education in 2006 and as a fellow in the Association Internationale des Écoles Supérieures d’Éducation Physique. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Science Board from 2011 to 2014.

Van der Mars’ research and scholarship focus on determining factors that facilitate physical activity among secondary school students and the role of public policy on the quality of K–12 physical education.