Welcome to the home page of the Academy of Leisure Sciences. Although essentially an honorary organization, the Academy undertakes various projects related to leisure and recreation studies. These include a doctoral student recruitment initiative and co-sponsorship of the annual Lucille & Derby Dustin Future Scholars program.

The Academy of Leisure Sciences was created in 1980 by 30 founding members. Since then, more than 70 Fellows have been elected to the Academy in recognition of their outstanding contributions to knowledge about leisure and recreation.

For further information about the Academy of Leisure Sciences, or to contact its members by e-mail or by post, click on the buttons below:
Links to info about the Academy
Detailed information about each member can be found in:
Links to ALS members' biographies
The ALS In Memory page remembers and honors deceased members of the Academy.
A new feature for the Academy of Leisure Sciences website and a resource for visitors to the site: Academy Experts lists the areas of expertise and recent publications of about three dozen of our members.
Officers of the Academy for 2007 - 2008 are:

  President: Deb Bialeschki
  President-Elect: Jim Murphy (San Francisco State University)
  Past President: Bill Hammitt (Clemson University)
  Secretary-Treasurer: Doug Kleiber (University of Georgia)
  Nominations Committee: Charlie Bullock (University of Nevada, Reno), Lynn Barnett, Vice-chair (University of Illinois), Bill Hammitt (Clemson)
  Future Scholars: Mike Mahon, Chair (University of Alberta)
  Historian: Mark Havitz (University of Waterloo)

Congratulations to Members of the Academy newly elected in 2007:
  Debra Jordan Oklahoma State University
  David Scott Texas A&M University

Congratulations to our 2008 Lucille and Derby Dustin Future Scholars:

 

Yelyzaveta Berdychevsky, B.A. Yelyzaveta is presently enrolled in the MBA program at Be-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel studying Hotel and Tourism Management. Her sponsors are Dr. Yaniv Poria and Professor Natan Uriely, both from Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Be-Gurion University of the Negev. Yelyzaveta’s research interests relate to tourist experience and motivations; liminality effects and deviant behaviour; and, sexual behaviour in tourism. She is interested in the potential of conducting mixed methods studies as a part of her doctoral program.

 

Bryan Clift, B.Sc. Bryan is a Master of Arts student at the University of Georgia studying in the area of Recreation and Leisure Studies. His sponsor is Dr. Diane Samdahl, Professor in the Recreation and Leisure Studies Program at the University of Georgia. Bryan’s research interests center on the collegiate sporting experience, with a particular focus on women’s sport. He has developed a number of research questions related to gender, race, power, capitalism and other such social constructions within this context of the sporting experience with the possibility of exploring qualitative research as a part of his doctoral program

 

Anthony Schoenecker, M.S. Anthony completed his M.S. degree at the University of Minnesota in Natural Resources Science and Management. His sponsor is Dr. Ingrid Schneider, Associate Professor of Forest Resources and Director of the Tourism Centre at the University of Minnesota. Anthony’s research interests lie within human dimensions of natural resources. To date he has focused on the constructs of specialization and flow in outdoor recreation experiences. Anthony would like to continue to learn more about optimal experience that can inform recreation resource management practices and enhance benefit outcomes.

 

Carena van Riper, B.A. Carena is completing her M.S. in Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Her sponsor is Dr. Robert Manning, Professor of Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Carena’s research is evaluating visitor perceptions of social, ecological, and managerial impacts to protected areas on four mountain summits in the northeastern US. Carena plans for her future research to fall under the umbrella of visitor experiences in the National Park system. She is committed to enhancing her understanding of human dimensions of natural resources use and preservation.

Click here to view Future Scholars rosters through the years.

The Lucille and Derby Dustin Future Scholars program is partially underwritten by grants from:
Books by Members of the Academy of Leisure Sciences
Members of the Academy of Leisure Sciences have published more than 80 books on leisure studies, therapeutic recreation, management, conservation and related issues since 1995. Go to Recent books by members of the Academy of Leisure Sciences for details about this outstanding body of work. (This list was last updated on April 30, 2005)
News and Announcements

Dr. Doug Sessoms passed away February 12, 2008. A celebration of Doug's life was held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 8 at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on the UNC-CH campus. Bert Brantley officiated and Deb Bialeschki developed a visual tribute. Doug had a wonderful life to celebrate.

Dr. David Scott is serving as Interim Head of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. Dr. Gary Ellis will assume the Head position in the summer of 2008.

Dr. John L. Crompton has been elected to city council in College Station, Texas where he intends to put various aspects of theory into practice. Platform elements can be viewed at: http://www.johncrompton.com/

Photo highlights from the 2007 ALS General Meeting.

The Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois celebrated its 50th Anniversary in October 2007.

The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo will celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2008.

Dr. Thomas L. Goodale, Professor Emeritus at George Mason University, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of Waterloo in 2006.

Dr. Daniel L. Dustin assumed duties as Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism at the University of Utah in 2006.

Dr. Robert Stebbins has set up a comprehensive website about serious leisure: The Serious Leisure Perspective. The site is about serious, casual, and project-based leisure. The serious leisure perspective and its website are attempts to bring all three forms together in a broad synthesis, showing thereby why each form has its special place. The site was opened in 2006 and will be updated frequently.

Founding Member and first President of the Academy, David E. Gray, passed away on June 25, 2005. Click here to read an obituary.
Dr. Chris Edginton has been appointed as Secretary General of World Leisure.

The Academy's Doctoral Student Recruitment Initiative: It is widely recognized that only a small number of North American students are entering doctoral programs in recreation, therapeutic recreation, tourism, parks and natural resources. This has resulted in a shortage of qualified candidates to fill faculty positions. Thus, the Academy of Leisure Sciences, with the support of the Society of Park and Recreation Educators, is soliciting the assistance of academic programs in these fields to help identify good candidates for potential recruitment into doctoral programs. This program is currently undergoing restructuring.

  • Constitution of the Academy of Leisure Sciences
  • New members nomination form

    The Academy of Leisure Sciences web site was moved to its new location on June 6, 2003, and last updated on November 9 , 2007.

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    Please mail comments, revisions and news items to Mark Havitz <mhavitz@healthy.uwaterloo.ca>