• Sunbury, OH
• Otterbein Professor, Health and Sports Science

Award presented: September 26, 2020

Over the last 28 years, whenever there has been a need for change or improvement within the Health and Health and Sport Sciences Department, Dr. Joan Rocks has worked to find a way to meet those needs while ensuring the students have a quality environment to learn and be successful. She constantly seeks out best practices and surrounds herself with people who share a commitment to the continued success of students. Joan’s tireless work has further established Otterbein’s HSS department as a national academic leader while further enhancing the student experience. During her tenure as chair, the department has seen enrollment nearly double. As a result of Joan‘s tenacity and hard work, the HSS department re-located to a re-imagined facility to provide clinical setting and hands-on practice areas for students as well as areas for collaborate learning, small group work and fellowship with faculty. Through her years of service, Joan has forged countless lifelong mentoring relationships with (students, faculty and staff leaders. She is actively involved in mentoring all the upper-class athletic training students and conducts special study sessions throughout the spring term each year to prepare seniors for the Board of Certification exam. Joan has also committed hundreds of hours of personal time to improving the campus community’s quality of life. She recognized the need for a comprehensive fitness and wellness program for the Otterbein community and worked with Dr. Fischer to implement the overwhelmingly popular OtterFit program.  Joan‘s leadership within the Health and Sport Sciences Department and within the Otterbein community is just one example of how her compassion and expectations have fostered student success and helped Otterbein grow.