Despite\u00a0a\u00a0prolific career\u00a0recently highlighted by a\u00a0lifetime achievement award, John Graham M.S. \u201902\u00a0continues\u00a0to\u00a0seek\u00a0new and rewarding goals. His latest: pursuing his doctorate from East Stroudsburg University at the age of 64.<\/p>\n
Graham, a student in the\u00a0Doctorate of Health Science\u00a0in Health Sciences (D.H.Sc.) program, is a well-known contributor to the fitness and sports performance field. Currently the Senior Network Administrator for Lifestyle Health & Wellness, Fitness & Sports Performance, at St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network, Graham has received recognition both locally and nationally during his more than 40-year career that has included roles as a trainer, coach, editor, educator and speaker.<\/p>\n
His latest accolade came on July 10, when he was honored with the National Strength and Conditioning Association\u2019s (NSCA) Boyd Epley Award for NSCA Lifetime Contributions at a ceremony in New Orleans, La.<\/p>\n
Presented since 1993, the award honors individuals who \u201chave exhibited historical impact, achievements, and dedication to the NSCA over the course of their careers,\u201d according to the NSCA. It is considered the highest honor given by the NSCA, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing science and education in the strength and conditioning field.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I\u2019ve done,\u00a0I\u2019ve always done\u00a0for the right reasons, which is to help people,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt was never about getting a pat on the back\u00a0or\u00a0being told \u2018thank you,\u2019\u00a0it was because it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham has led more than 400 presentations around the world and contributed to more than 200 publications during his career. He has also co-authored a book on metabolic training, served as an adjunct professor at multiple colleges and universities, and\u00a0possesses\u00a0numerous\u00a0certifications in leadership, strength and conditioning, and coaching.<\/p>\n
In his role with St. Luke\u2019s, Graham oversees clinical fitness operations, community wellness initiatives, and sports performance programs throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Graham, however, is far from content. Determined to continue developing as a professional, he enrolled in East Stroudsburg University\u2019s Doctor of Health Science in Health Sciences (D.H.Sc.) program in fall 2025. Though he has no plans to retire anytime soon, he viewed the program as an opportunity to continue doing what\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0enjoyed doing for so long after retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like if I could\u00a0get my doctorate and\u00a0become a professor, it would give me\u00a0opportunities to help others progress\u00a0in their careers and become more successful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0deciding\u00a0factor\u00a0in choosing ESU\u00a0was\u00a0Graham\u2019s\u00a0experience\u00a0earning\u00a0his master\u2019s degree in exercise science\u00a0in 2002, particularly\u00a0his\u00a0relationship with\u00a0Dr. Shala Davis,\u00a0professor\u00a0and\u00a0chair of the exercise science department.\u00a0Graham said\u00a0Dr. Davis helped\u00a0him\u00a0develop his master\u2019s thesis and\u00a0later\u00a0reached out to him about being a strong fit for the doctoral program.<\/p>\n
Now\u00a0nearly a\u00a0year into the program, Graham applauded the\u00a0strong foundation\u00a0laid by Dr. Davis and her colleagues, with everyone working together to lift their students up towards success.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Davis has built a culture in the program where the other professors and everyone around her are all very engaged, they\u2019re\u00a0very supportive, and they all make you feel like you\u2019re important,\u201d he said. \u201cThey make you feel like you\u2019re a collaborator, not a student.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Davis said Graham, with his commitment to\u00a0professional growth,\u00a0represents\u00a0the type of individual the\u00a0Doctorate of Health Science\u00a0program aims to attract.<\/p>\n
\u201cJohn Graham,\u00a0as a student and professional,\u00a0is never satisfied with the status quo but thrives on continuous improvement,\u201d Dr. Davis said.\u00a0\u201cHe is a leader in the field and challenges the faculty to push him to fine tune his leadership skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n
In preparing his dissertation, Graham is analyzing a three-year span of data to explore whether medical residents see an improvement or decline in their health and wellness during residency.<\/p>\n
Medical residents, doctors who graduated from medical school but must first complete supervised on-the-job training before practicing on their own, are a critical part of hospital care team, but often\u00a0work\u00a0a demanding schedule of up to\u00a080 hours\u00a0per week. Graham hopes the data leads to yet another outcome in which he can help others improve their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are seeing a decline, how do we find ways to improve upon it?\u201d Graham said. \u201cIf\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0seeing success,\u00a0what are we doing that enables that to occur?\u00a0Because\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0something we want to replicate so\u00a0that\u00a0everyone benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learn more about ESU\u2019s\u00a0Doctorate of Health Science program<\/a>,\u00a0as well as\u00a0graduate<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0undergraduate<\/a>\u00a0degrees in\u00a0exercise science.\u00a0For more information, contact Dr. Shala Davis at (570) 422-3302 or\u00a0sdavis@esu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite\u00a0a\u00a0prolific career\u00a0recently highlighted by a\u00a0lifetime achievement award, John Graham M.S. \u201902\u00a0continues\u00a0to\u00a0seek\u00a0new and rewarding goals. His latest: pursuing his doctorate from ESU at the age of 64.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":25058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,42,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news-release","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25060,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25055\/revisions\/25060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}