Dr. Steven Blair to Present Fries Lecture at Georgia Southern University on Sept. 29

September 14, 2009

Professor Steven Blair from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health will present this year’s Norman Fries Distinguished Lecture at Georgia Southern University.His presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. at the University’s Performing Arts Center.

Blair will deliver a lecture entitled, ‘Physical Inactivity: The Biggest Public Health Problem of the 21^st Century.” A professor in the Departments of Exercise Science and Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Arnold School of Public Health, Blair focuses his research on the associations between lifestyle and health, with a specific emphasis on exercise, physical fitness, body composition and chronic disease.

Blair is a past president of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. He has received awards from many professional associations, including a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, ACSM Honor Award, and the Robert Levy Lecture and Population Science Research Awards from the American Heart Association. Blair is also one of the few individuals outside the U.S. Public Health Service to be awarded the Surgeon General’s Medallion.

The Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series began in 2001. It is funded by an endowment in honor of the late Norman Fries, who was the founder of Claxton Poultry. In his more than 50 years in business, Fries built the company from a one-man operation into one of the nation’s largest poultry production plants.

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers 115 degree programs serving nearly 18,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.