We've all heard the adage "publish or perish," and today, increasingly intense competition in the world of academia means that the saying rings truer than ever.
But getting published is no easy feat—especially for graduate students and young professors who may face financial barriers in addition to challenges related to their inexperience.
That's why Joy N. Rose '75 established the James H. Humphrey Published Research Endowment. The fund is named for Rose's late father, an accomplished and renowned educator, a leader in the field of physical education and a professor emeritus in the Department of Kinesiology.
Rose's $130,000 gift will support the research initiatives of kinesiology graduate students and tenure-track faculty at the School of Public Health in honor of Dr. Humphrey's legacy of scholarship and remembrance of his passion for academic research.
"He frequently encouraged graduate students and junior faculty members to begin publishing, often adding them as co-authors on his own projects," Rose said of her late father in her legacy statement.
In-kind, the gift will support a new generation of young researchers at the school by removing financial barriers to academic publishing—important not only as a necessity of professional advancement in academia but as the foundation for knowledge and action in public health.
A prolific researcher himself, Dr. Humphrey authored or co-authored 28 textbooks, 13 children's books and 200 research articles in the field of physical education. He served as a research editor for the Journal of School Health and as director of the Institute on Research Design and Techniques in School and College Health Education.
Much of Dr. Humphrey's research and work focused on advancing children’s education through motor activity and the promotion of evidence-based practice. Having served as the director of Health and Physical Education for Bedford, Ohio City Schools, and having taught at all educational levels from elementary school to the college graduate level, Dr. Humphrey had first-hand experience in the field and an interest in improving educational techniques.
Based on his findings that children tend to learn more readily when learning is associated with physical activity, he developed the AMAV Technique (Auditory-Movement Auditory-Visual), a procedure for teaching reading through movement and dance. Today, educators use components of the AMAV Technique to help children with reading difficulties and cite his research in support of programs that integrate the arts into traditional education.
Thanks to this gift, more School of Public Health graduate students and tenure-track faculty will engage in academic publishing and produce impactful research in Dr. Humphrey's footsteps.