Dr. John Hultsman is President of the Academy of Leisure Sciences for 2005-2006. John is Associate Vice President and Director of California State University Bakersfield's Antelope Valley Campus. Previously, he served as Interim Dean of the College of Human Services, Director of the Partnership for Community Development, and Professor of Recreation and Tourism Management at Arizona State University West. Prior to that appointment he was a faculty member in the Department of Physical Education, Health, and Recreation Studies at Purdue University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physical Sciences from Kansas University, a Master's in Recreation from the University of Missouri, and a Doctorate in Recreation from Indiana University. Between earning his Master's and Doctorate, he worked as an outdoor recreation planner and program coordinator for the Tennessee Valley Authority's Division of Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife.

John's academic interests focus on the effects of technology on leisure, at-risk youth, and program evaluation. He has published in all of the major journals in recreation and leisure as well as outlets such as the Journal of American Culture, Popular Culture Review, The Counseling Psychologist, and Youth and Society and is the lead author of Planning Parks for People, a recreation planning text currently in its second edition. He is a Fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. During the 1994-1995 academic year he was appointed the Arizona State University Loaned Executive to the City of Phoenix during which time he conducted and authored a comprehensive policy analysis of City youth programs and services that has helped restructure the design of youth services delivery by the City. From 1991-1997 he was the editor of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration's Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, for which he was presented the Academy's President's Award in 1997. He currently edits the Journal's Programs that Work section. John co-chaired the National Recreation and Park Association's Leisure Research Symposium in 1996 and 1997.