Cal State San Bernardino’s Department of Kinesiology seems to have made an impression on the American Kinesiology Association in 2017-18.New CSUSB alumnus Rafael Alamilla, incoming faculty member Christopher Hill, and professor Terry Rizzo have received national honors from the A.K.A.“It is a significant honor that our department has seen the previous department chair, a graduating senior, and an incoming faculty member all recognized as the best in the nation,” said Brian Haddock, chair of the kinesiology department. “All of us in the department are extremely proud to work with them.”Alamilla, who graduated on June 16, received the association’s National Undergraduate Scholar Award. That is in addition to being named the CSUSB College of Natural Science’s Outstanding Undergraduate Student with a 3.98 grade-point average. Alamilla will enter the doctoral program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign to study physiology of exercise.Hill received the association’s National Doctoral Student Scholar Award. He completed his doctorate in kinesiology from Michigan State University in May, and will teach at CSUSB beginning in the 2018 fall quarter. Before pursuing his Ph.D. at Michigan State, Hill earned his master of science in kinesiology and health from Miami University in Ohio and his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Louisiana State University.Both of these awards are based on the nominations by department faculty at the nominees’ academic institution, and, the A.K.A. said, are intended to “recognize and promote academic excellence, to further the professional competence and dedication of academically accomplished students and to promote kinesiology and its related fields.”Earlier in the academic year, the A.K.A. honored Rizzo, who served as department chair for 21 years, then as interim assistant vice president and dean of undergraduate studies in 2016-17, with the 2017 Jerry R. Thomas Distinguished Leadership Award. Rizzo, who joined CSUSB in 1988, was honored at the association’s conference earlier this year for his outstanding leadership and service.The American Kinesiology Association promotes and enhances kinesiology as a unified field of study and advances its many applications. A.K.A. does this by advocating for kinesiology at national and international levels as well as by supporting its member departments by providing resource materials, leadership, and educational opportunities for university administrators in kinesiology.Visit the American Kinesiology Association website and the Cal State San Bernardino Department of Kinesiology website to learn more about each program.For more information on Cal State San Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit inside.csusb.edu.