Maureen Weiss, PhD, is the new editor of Kinesiology Review (KR), the official journal of the National Academy of Kinesiology and the American Kinesiology Association. The mission of KR is to advance the field of kinesiology by publishing theoretical papers, integrative reviews, position papers, critical analyses, and similar manuscripts along conceptual and multidisciplinary lines. The journal is unique in publishing reviews from all disciplines within kinesiology—biological, physical, social, psychological, historical, philosophical—and strongly encourages papers that focus on important and timely issues that consider the contribution and interaction of multiple perspectives.
Weiss is planning several initiatives to heighten the visibility, submission rate, and impact of the journal. Some of these include: (1) increasing editorial board membership to reflect international representation, (2) envisioning a strategic plan to include solicited, themed issues on significant and timely multidisciplinary topics, and (3) creating an executive board of scholars in different kinesiology disciplines, who will help promote the journal by (a) contributing ideas for the strategic plan, (b) identifying themes and soliciting authors for themed issues, (c) reviewing the journal mission, vision, and goals, and (d) informing members at their disciplinary society meetings of KR as an outlet for their work. She is interested in and open to ideas about topics for themed issues and other ways of promoting this unique journal—the only one she knows of with “kinesiology” in the title.
Weiss is a Professor in the School of Kinesiology, and Adjunct Professor in the Institute of Child Development, at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Her research is focused on the psychological, social, and physical development of children and adolescents through participation in sport and physical activity, with interests in self-perceptions, motivation, moral development, and social relationships. Previously she was a faculty member at the University of Virginia (1997-2007), where she held an endowed professorship, and at the University of Oregon (1981-1997), where research and its applications were implemented through her role as Director of the Children’s Summer Sports Program, a developmental skills program serving youth 5 to 13 years of age. Weiss received Bachelor of Arts degrees in Kinesiology and Psychology, and a Master of Arts degree in Kinesiology, from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Her Ph.D. in Kinesiology was obtained at Michigan State University, where she also served as a research assistant and clinician with the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports.
Weiss has published over 140 journal articles and book chapters in her areas of expertise. She has edited or co-edited four books: Competitive Sport for Children and Youths (Weiss & Gould, 1986), Advances in Pediatric Sport Sciences: Behavioral Issues (Gould & Weiss, 1987), Worldwide Trends in Youth Sport (De Knop, Engstrom, Skirstad, & Weiss, 1996), and Developmental Sport and Exercise Psychology: A Lifespan Perspective (Weiss, 2004). She served as Editor of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (1993-1996), Associate Editor of Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (1998-2005; Editorial Board, 1986-2013), and Psychology Section Editor of Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport (1990-1993). She serves on several editorial boards and reviews for many kinesiology and psychology journals.
Weiss is especially proud of the students she has mentored—25 doctoral students, who hold faculty positions in higher education or serve as research scientists, and 35 master’s thesis and over 60 other master’s students, who contribute to the field as coaches, teachers, and health and fitness professionals. She also greatly enjoys teaching a writing-intensive undergraduate course in history and philosophy of sport/physical activity to over 150 students yearly, where she is passionate about conveying that writing is one of the most important life skills to be mastered.
She is an active Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology (#360) and served as President in 2010-2011. As Past-President, she organized the themed conference on Physical Activity Across the Lifespan and served as Editor of The Academy Papers that accompanied presentations from the meeting (KR, 2013). Weiss has also served as President of four other professional organizations—North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (2005-2006), Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (2002-2003), Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (1996-1997), and Sport Psychology Academy of AAHPERD (1988-1991). She also served as Chair and Member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Science Board (2005-2008).
