CANYON, Texas — A West Texas A&M University professor will receive two of her profession’s highest honors at an upcoming conference.
Dr. Lorna Strong, assistant professor and head of the Department of Sports and Exercise Science in WT’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences, will be inducted into the Texas State Athletic Training Association Hall of Honor and receive the Eddie Wojecki Award from the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association.
Both awards will be presented at SWATA’s 69th annual Symposium & Billy Pickard Expo, which runs July 20 to 22 in Arlington.
“I’m the 55th recipient of the Wojecki Award, and my fellow recipients are a who’s who of our association. To be counted in that roster is pretty awe inspiring. And the Hall of Honor is not an award I ever saw coming,” Strong said. “To be recognized by my peers for my contributions is humbling, unexpected and something I will treasure.”
Strong, who joined the WT faculty in 2000 and also serves as the director of the athletic training program, has been instrumental in the progression of WT’s Sports and Exercise Sciences department, including the formation of an athletic training major. She also expanded WT’s athletic training program to encompass dance students in the Department of Art, Theatre and Dance in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.
“Lorna is the epitome of a servant leader,” said Dr. Rick Haasl, associate dean of WT’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences. “Her level of kindness and selflessness in putting the needs of others first is a level we should all aspire to reach. Through her many years of outstanding service to the college, Lorna has truly become the face of both the Department of Sports and Exercise Sciences and the athletic training program.”
Strong previously was named to the SWATA Hall of Fame in 2016. She is one of a handful of double-honorees for the Wojecki Award, previously winning in 2015.
“Lorna has a long track record of service to the profession of athletic training, serving in multiple leadership capacities,” said Roy Rudewick, director of sports medicine at the University of Texas–Arlington and current chair of TSATA. “Her service at WT and the people’s lives she has influenced there go beyond what you can even imagine.”
Strong attended Rice University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in human performance health science with an emphasis in sports medicine. She earned her master’s degree in exercise science from the University of Central Arkansas and was hired as the university’s first full-time athletic trainer.
Since joining WT, she has earned numerous local, regional and national honors, including the National Athletic Trainers Association’s Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer and SWATA’s Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer, both in 2012.
Recruiting, rewarding and retaining the best faculty and staff is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021— has raised more than $125 million and will continue through 2025.
