Dr. Thilo Kunkel
Associate Professor and Director of SIRC
Dr. Kunkel has presented his research at over 50 national and international conferences and published 18 peer-reviewed articles in top sport management and marketing journals. He is a member of the editorial board of Sport Management Review and Sport Marketing Quarterly. Dr. Kunkel’s contribution to the field of sport management has been recognized by the American Marketing Association from which he received the Emerging Scholar in Sport Marketing in 2018 and the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) where he was inducted as a lifetime Research Fellow in 2018. He has been on the dissertation committee of two Ph.D. students who graduated in 2018 and is the primary advisor of a Ph.D. student who won the 2018 NASSM Student Research competition.
Dr. Amy Giddings
Associate Professor & Academic Director of the Master of Science in Sport Business Program
The founder of the Philadelphia Coaches Conference, Dr. Giddings brings together coaches at the youth, scholastic, collegiate and professional levels to share their knowledge with one another in a two-day event. The establishment of this collaborative event was a catalyst for her work with the School District of Philadelphia’s Office of Athletics – where she created and provided education and professional development programming to all school district coaches over a two-year period.
A two-time U.S. National Champion and more than ten top three finishes in the U.S. Rowing Championships, Giddings' rowing resume is extensive. She finished in the top 10 at the World Indoor Rowing Championships in 2000, won the 2001 I-lan International Invitational in Taiwan in the women’s lightweight quad, and was part of the women's senior quad that captured gold at the prestigious Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in 2002. She also has three gold medals from the famed Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA in the lightweight women’s four event. Building on her rowing experience, Dr. Giddings has coached the sport for over 20 years at the scholastic, collegiate, and elite levels. She and her husband, Paul Coomes, were instrumental in creating the rowing program at Conestoga High School, a suburban Philadelphia-area school, where Giddings served as novice coach from 2001 until 2010 and her husband was head coach of the team for 17 years. Giddings led her crews to countless city, state, and national medals. In her time with Conestoga, her boats successfully won 11 Philadelphia City Championships.
Dr. Elizabeth Taylor
Assistant Professor
Dr. Taylor has presented her research at over 50 national and international conferences and published 19 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Management Review, International Journal of Sport Communication, Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal, Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, Sport Management Education Journal, and Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education. Dr. Taylor and colleagues from the University of Tennessee recently won the 2019 Student-Athlete Services Profession Research Award at the N4A National Convention. Recent work by Drs. Taylor and Jones as well as Dr. Adam Cohen (University of Technology Sydney) was selected as a finalist in the research paper competition at the European Association of Sport Management conference.
Dr. Jonathan Howe
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Dr. Howe’s research centers broadly on the intersections of race, sport, and education. Within these intersections, Dr. Howe focuses on Black male college athletes as well as Black coaches and athletic administrators. His research with Black male college athletes centers race along with identity development and self-presentation. Related to Black athletic coaches and administrators, Dr. Howe examines their racialized experiences as they operate in predominately and historically white spaces. One of his research goals is to bridge the gap between scholarship and practice within collegiate athletics and higher education institutions. Thus, Dr. Howe has had the opportunity to engage with athletic departments and various academic units on college campuses to provide support and a positive environment for some of their key Black stakeholders.
Dr. Howe has presented his work at national and international conferences associated with the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Black Student-Athlete Summit, North American Society for Sport Management, College Sport Research Institute, American Educational Research Association, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education. His work has also been published in academic journals, such as the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Journal of Intercollegiate Sport, International Journal of Sport Communication, Journal of Amateur Sport, and Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.
Dr. Debra Blair
Associate Professor of Instruction & Director of Organizational Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Dr. Blair is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, specializing in Sports and Recreation Management. She teaches courses which focus on the areas of: Organizational Management of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion(DEI), Ethics, Disability Awareness, and Sport and Recreation Management.
Her industry experience spans over 25 years designing and implementing inclusive sport, tourism and leisure programs and events. She has served on numerous local, regional and national committees including the Board of Directors of the National Equality Forum, Philadelphia LGBT Affairs, Mid-East Symposium on Therapeutic Recreation, National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification: Job Analysis Committee, Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, as well as, consulted with various agencies and committees regarding the development of inclusive practices. She has presented to various audiences at the local, regional and national level.
