President’s Council selects Illinois’ Zhu

By Marc Ruopp

Weimo Zhu Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, was appointed to the president’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Science Board earlier this year.

The board is an organization of 12 members, 10 of which are scholars in the field of health, physical activity and fitness, which reviews the council as a whole and guarantees that its policies are scientifically reliable.

Members serve three-year terms and nominate candidates for their replacements. These nominations are then given to the executive director of the science board for confirmation and appointment.

“I am very honored by it, especially considering that I came from China and was able to receive this here in the United States,” Zhu said. “This gives me a great opportunity to bring my expertise to the field. I’m really very excited about it.”

Zhu boasts a wide range of accomplishments. He served as the section editor of the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport for six years. He is currently on the editorial board of several leading journals in the field of measurement and physical activity and a fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education – a highly prestigious organization limited to 150 members.

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
Thank you for subscribing!

Kim Graber, professor of Kinesiology, has known Zhu for several years at the University and has also worked with him on a task force in the National Association of Sport and Physical Education.

“(He) is an excellent advocate for increasing the amounts of physical activity and physical education children receive and is also very highly committed to reducing the obesity epidemic in this country,” Graber said.

Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, head of the Kinesiology and Community Health Department, has known Zhu for the past six years and has worked with Zhu on several projects including a globally recognized conference on the benefits of walking.

“(The) president’s council is without question one of the most important and influential committees in our field . for a U of I faculty member to be appointed to this committee is important . It underscores the importance of not only Zhu’s research, but the department’s research as a whole,” Zajko said.

Zhu has two major aspects of health that he hopes to address during his term on the board. One is to combat youth obesity, and the other is to further understand the older generation’s health needs in order to help them function independently in society.

“It’s a very critical time for kinesiology and physical health,” Zhu said.

This fall, Zhu will be teaching a new and very rare type of class that deals with negotiating stress in today’s environment using ancient Chinese techniques. KINES 199, Qi Gong for Stress Management is being offered as a discovery course for the first time.

“I want to teach students, hopefully everyone, about managing stress,” Zhu said. “It’s so important today because your ability to deal with stress makes a huge difference in your approaches, both personally and professionally, toward life.”