SWACSM Founders

• Members
• Members At Large
• Founders

Gene Adams, Ph.D., FACSM Founder Department of Kinesiology & Health Promotion California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA 92834-6870 Office : 1-714-278-2629 FAX : 1-714-278-5317 Email : gadams@fullerton.edu
Robert Conlee, Ph.D., FACSM Founder College of Health & Human Performance Room 106 SFH Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 84602 Office : 1-801-422-2645 FAX : 1-801-422-0557 Email : robert_conlee@byu.edu
Robert Bielen, MD Founder Orthopedic Physician Phone : 1-949-219-9979 Email : ghsgrad@yahoo.com

The Southwest Chapter's History :

The first meeting of the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) was held at the 1928 Olympic Games. In 1954, American physical educators,physiologists, and physicians belonging to the FIMS formed the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

In 1972, the Midwest Regional Chapter of the ACSM was formed. In the late 1960's and early 1970's, a small number of Southern California members of the ACSM were meeting sporadically and contemplated the formation of a new regional chapter. However, not until 1975 did another attempt by Southern California members successfully lead to the granting of a provisional charter by the ACSM in 1977 forming the Southern California Chapter (SCC). The SCC was expecting to receive a full permanent charter in 1981. However, there was a movement to make a Chapter that encompassed a much larger geographical region postponing the granting of a full charter for the SCC.

At the May, 1980 annual meetings of the ACSM which were held in Las Vegas, Nevada, there was a meeting of the members from the SCC with members from Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. This fortuitous meeting led to the organization of the Southwest Regional Chapter of the ACSM (SWACSM). At the annual meeting of the ACSM in 1981 which was held in Miami, Florida, there was a planning meeting by the SWACSM members which lead to the first annual meeting of the SWACSM to be held in November, 1981 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first annual meeting was held at the Maxim Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada and drew approximately 100 members of the new SWACSM chapter. In that same year, the SWACSM received a provisional charter from the national ACSM.

In the summer of 1982, seven ACSM members from Southern California, Utah, and Nevada met all day at Orange Coast College to revise the constitution of the SCC to meet the needs of the newly founded Southwest Chapter. These individuals also planned the second annual meeting of the SWACSM. In 1985, the ACSM granted the SWACSM permanent status as a regional chapter. The member states for the SWACSM are Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.