International scholar named chair of PXW New leadership and a new vision will direct the Department of Physical Education, Exercise Science and Wellness (PXW). Dennis Caine is the new chair and professor of the department within the College of Education and Human Development. “I am very pleased that Dr. Caine has joined our faculty and will be the chair of the Department of Physical Education, Exercise Science, and Wellness,” said Dan Rice, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “He is a very strong scholar with an international reputation, an excellent record of accomplishments, and is a solid teacher and advisor. He is exactly the kind of leader we need at this important time in our history as a university.” Before coming to UND, Caine was a professor in the Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. His research and writing, much of it on pediatric sports injuries and the effects of training on growth, resulted from his collaboration in several longitudinal growth and injury epidemiology studies. In addition to serving on the Editorial Review Board for the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dennis has also served on Editorial Review Boards for the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine and The Physician and Sportsmedicine. “I feel that this is an extremely exciting time for the department,” said Caine, “because now, more than ever, there is a growing public awareness of the importance of our discipline to population health (e.g., osteoporosis, obesity prevention).” Caine has earned an international reputation for his scholarly work. In March of 2007 he accepted an invitation from the International Olympic Committee to become senior co-editor of a volume in the series Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine, on the topic of epidemiology of injury in Olympic sports. In October, Caine will be a keynote speaker at “be active ‘07” as part of the Fifth National Sports Injury Prevention Conference for the 2007 Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport in Adelaide, Australia. “be active ‘07” is a unique event, combining four conferences focusing on the promotion of injury prevention, sports medicine and science and physical activity. The event is interdisciplinary, and its purpose is to promote knowledge and practice in sports science, sports medicine and other disciplines by providing an interactive and interdisciplinary educational forum of the highest standard to enhance the participation, performance and well-being of Australians engaged in sport and physical activity. “The campus is rich with opportunities for new interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaborative research initiatives, such as PXW with Medicine and Health Sciences, Aerospace Sciences, Nursing, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Psychology, Wellness Center, etc.,” said Caine. Caine was born in Winnipeg, Canada, and received his undergraduate degrees in physical education and education from the University of Manitoba. He also holds a master’s degree in education from the University of British Columbia and a Ph.D. in human growth and development and a graduate certificate in gerontology from the University of Oregon. Caine and his wife, Caroline, will reside in Grand Forks and are looking forward to becoming part of the local community. Caroline will be teaching ballet and jazz dance classes in the Department of Theatre Arts at UND. -- College of Education and Human Development.