Educating the USA through Olympism: A Public Health Imperative

Constantine or 'Kosti' is a Kinesiologist by training and serves as a Faculty Coordinator at the Center on Causes and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) and at the Department of Cell Bio at Harvard Medical School. He also serves by appointment from the Dean of HSPH, Angelopoulos Professor Michelle Williams, on the Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (DACDI), where he has been assigned to the Strategic Planning working group. Constantine Psimopoulos' research interests lie in the nexus of Sport Humanities, Sport Pedagogy, Exercise Science and Sport Management, situated within an interdisciplinary approach. His most current research interest is on the ethical dimensions of medicine (medical ethics or bioethics) and the fight against doping in the Olympics and the Paralympics, which is what he calls the 'Olympic epidemic', as well as on Diplomacy and Olympism. Employing qualitative methodologies, his scholarly pursuits delve into Physical Education policy, Olympic Pedagogy, Olympic Diplomacy and specifically the public health implications of 'Sport for All' and the notion of 'Exercise as Medicine' towards a healthier, more peaceful and more physically active society. Constantine Psimopoulos is President Emeritus of the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (MAHPERD / ma-hperd.org), and has previously been elected President of the New York State Council for the Professional Preparation of Physical Education teachers. Constantine has served and continues to serve the national association SHAPE America (Formerly known as AAHPERD) by appointment to the Nominations Committee, the National Public Policy Advisory Committee and the National Committee on Social Justice and Diversity, and in 2011 was nominated for a National Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award (National Association of Sport and Physical Education of the USA) for student engagement, advice and service. His research has been published in peer reviewed journals and proceedings, and his work presented at local, state, national and international conferences, with over 25 publications and 40 presentations overall including chapters on Olympism in the USA in two edited books, Olympism, Olympic Legacies and Olympic Education (2014) and Olympic Education: An International Review (2017). His work has been recognized with two leadership awards, three awards for teaching excellence, distinguished service awards, a research award, a sports facility design award as well as a student-athlete scholar award. He has recently been one of only four Americans to receive the National Speak Out Award by SHAPE America (2017) for his 10 year commitment to serving as an advocate in Washington DC, talking to members in Congress about quality health and physical education on Capitol Hill. Since 2013, Constantine has been appointed as a Faculty Mentor for the Olympism4Humanity Alliance and has taught as a professor at the Summer Praxis program at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia. Furthermore, he has organized the annual Symposium on the Boston Marathon and Olympism at Harvard and MIT, as well as USOC's Olympic Day celebration in 2015, 2016 and 2017.