Dr. Dompier Receives Highest AT National Teaching Award

Dr. Thomas Dompier, Lebanon Valley College associate professor of athletic training, was named a 2018 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer (MDAT) by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) earlier this month. It is awarded only to the most distinguished scholars in the profession. The organization also announced that Dompier has been recognized as a NATA Fellow, the highest distinction an athletic training researcher can receive. 

“The Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer award recognizes NATA members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to leadership, volunteer service, advocacy, and distinguished professional activities as an athletic trainer,” according to the announcement. Also, “MDAT exclusively recognizes NATA members who have been involved in service and leadership activities at the national and district level.” Dompier joins previous awardees from the University of Virginia, Louisiana State University, University of New Mexico, and the University of Montana. 

Dompier’s NATA Fellow honor “recognizes members of the association who have demonstrated outstanding professional scholarly achievement in combination with service to the profession,” according to the NATA website. “Only the most accomplished scholars in the athletic training profession earn this honor and distinction, and are allowed to use the prestigious designation, of ‘FNATA.’” Recent NATA Fellow honorees include professors from Michigan State University, the University of Connecticut, and two from the University of Michigan. 

“I have known Tom as a mentor, colleague, and friend for two decades,” said Dr. Joe Murphy, LVC director and assistant professor of athletic training. “His grants and publications speak for themselves, but to see his true success, you need to walk by his office during any time of the day. There, you will find students and faculty bouncing off research ideas or talking through materials.” 

Dompier is the author or co-author of more than 100 publications on his research on injuries and injury prevention at the youth through National Collegiate Athletic Association and National Football League levels. An expert on concussions and football-related CTE, his editorials have appeared in USA Today—I’m donating my brain to science for the sake of football and facts. Really.; Replacing youth tackle football with flag football might not make our children safer; and Unfair play: Insurance costs are making football, other sports, prohibitively expensive. 

“Receiving our organizations top two awards during a career is impressive alone, but the fact that Dr. Dompier is receiving both in the same year highlights his work as a teacher, educator, and researcher,” said Dr. Joe Murphy, LVC director and assistant professor of athletic training. 

Dompier will receive both awards during the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., in June

Before LVC, Dompier taught at the University of South Carolina and the University of Northern Iowa. His clinical research focuses on athletic training and injury epidemiology. He received his B.S. from Michigan State University, M.S. from the Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. from Michigan State University, and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of South Carolina.