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

Future Scholars 2008 Application Information

    FutureScholarFlyer2008 (.pdf)

    FutureScholarInformation Packet 2008 (.pdf)

    2008 NRPA SPRE Lucille and Derby Dustin Future Scholars Award Form (.doc)

Congratulations to the 2007 Lucille and Derby Dustin Future Scholars:

  Heather Bell Dalhousie University
  Josh Bochniak SUNY – Cortland
  Kate Morrison University of New Brunswick
  Jordan Smith Utah State University
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.

    You are visitor Counter since a counter was added on March 1, 1996.

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