A retirement celebration on May 30 in honor of Arthur S. Leon, M.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, brought together current and former faculty and staff in the School of Kinesiology, Leon’s former graduate students and postdocs, and many of his fellow researchers and family members. Leon joined the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health in 1973 and moved his tenure line to the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (now School of Kinesiology) in 1992. Michael Wade, Ph.D., then director of the School, provided new space for Leon’s Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene and Exercise Science, the lab that was originally founded by Drs. Ancel Keys and Henry L. Taylor. In August, Dr. Leon will become professor emeritus.

Dr. Leon, who has held the the endowed Henry L. Taylor Professorship in Exercise Science and Health Enhancement since 1992, was recognized in several speeches for his transformative scholarly work in the field of exercise physiology, exercise nutrition and health. Several of Dr. Leon’s former graduate students attended the celebration, including Barbara Ainsworth, Ph.D., MPH, Regents’ Professor in Exercise Science and Health Promotion at Arizona State University, and Kathryn Schmitz, Ph.D., MPH, professor in the College of Medicine at Penn State University. Ainsworth and Schmitz also were attending the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annual meeting held in Minneapolis. Ainsworth, past president of ACSM, received the ACSM Honor Award, and Schmitz is the president-elect of ACSM.

Beth Lewis, Ph.D., director of the School of Kinesiology, announced the College’s decision to rename the Henry L. Taylor Professorship. The Taylor-Leon Professorship in Exercise Science and Health Enhancement will honor and recognize Dr. Leon’s lifelong achievements.

Click here for the entire photo gallery of the event.