IOHSK Celebrates Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie’s 2025 Research.com Leader Award

“Celebrating a Remarkable Achievement: Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie and the 2025 Research.com Award”

Los Angeles, California, US
April 9, 2026, 2:45 am

The International Organization for Health, Sports, and Kinesiology (IOHSK) is proud to celebrate an outstanding academic and research achievement by Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie, who has been recognized by Research.com. Dr. McKenzie, IOHSK’s Lifetime Honorary President and Fellow (No. 2), has generously supported hundreds of students and faculty members around the world since 2020 through academic mentorship, professional guidance, scholarships, and grants.

Dr. McKenzie received the 2025 Research.com Social Sciences and Humanities Leader Award in the United States. According to Research.com, which publishes comprehensive, data-driven guides, expert-reviewed resources, and trusted rankings to support informed academic decision-making, this recognition is based on his D-Index. The discipline H-index, or D-index, includes only publications and citation values within a specific discipline, unlike the general H-index, which accounts for publications across all disciplines. The D-index threshold for inclusion is determined in increments of 10, depending on the estimated number of scientists in each discipline, helping ensure that only the top 1% of leading scholars are included in the ranking. In general, an H-index of 40 is regarded as characteristic of outstanding scientists.

Research.com lists Dr. McKenzie with a D-Index of 94, a world ranking of 103, and a national ranking of 56, along with 315 publications and 33,410 citations in the discipline of Social Sciences and Humanities. This broad field encompasses the study of human society, behavior, culture, and thought, integrating both qualitative and quantitative approaches across areas such as psychology, sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, history, literature, philosophy, languages, and geography.

After reviewing the areas of specialization among scholars ranked from 1 to 200, IOHSK is especially pleased to note that Dr. McKenzie may be regarded as a leading scholar in the areas of physical activity, public health, sport pedagogy, and kinesiology.

The 4th edition of the Research.com Best Social Sciences and Humanities Scientists Ranking is based on rigorous data collection and analysis. Its primary data sources include OpenAlex and CrossRef, two of the most comprehensive and reputable bibliometric databases available to the academic community. Supplementary data sources are also incorporated to provide a more complete and accurate representation of scholarly output.

Much of Dr. McKenzie’s work has been supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. For example, in 1989, Dr. McKenzie and co-founder Dr. Jim Sallis began developing and investigating SPARK (Sports, Play, and Active Recreation for Kids), a multi-level curriculum and staff development program that continues to be widely disseminated through SPARKPE.org. In addition, several direct observation research tools developed by Dr. McKenzie, including SOFIT, SOPLAY, and SOPARC, are used throughout the United States and internationally.

Dr. McKenzie has also received the U.S. President’s Lifetime Service Award, recognized as one of the nation’s highest honors for lifetime service, volunteerism, and contribution. He is an internationally respected educator and researcher who has devoted decades to the study of physical activity across diverse settings, including schools, parks, and playgrounds, and across race/ethnicity, gender, and age groups.

Dr. Hosung So, President and CEO of IOHSK and Professor at California State University, San Bernardino, stated:

“IOHSK is truly fortunate to have Dr. McKenzie as its Lifetime Honorary President and one of its greatest supporters of students and professors, both nationally and internationally. Dr. McKenzie has contributed to IOHSK in countless ways and has profoundly influenced students, teachers, professors, coaches, and researchers around the world. Working with Dr. McKenzie has been one of the most meaningful and remarkable journeys in my nearly 35 years of experience in higher education in both the United States and Korea, serving as a research and teaching assistant, instructor, lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. I sincerely congratulate him on this outstanding recognition as one of the leading scholars in the Social Sciences and Humanities and as a scholar who may be regarded among the very top (Ranked #1) in the areas of physical activity, public health, sport pedagogy, and kinesiology. I am deeply proud of Dr. McKenzie’s achievements, recognition, publications, and lifelong scholarly contributions, and most importantly, of his presence with IOHSK. Many of Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie’s scholarship and grant recipients have gone on to become professors, physical education teachers, medical doctors, and researchers around the world. Please join us in congratulating Dr. McKenzie on this well-deserved recognition and award.”

IOHSK will also announce the next recipients of Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie’s Scholarships and Grants in the coming weeks.


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Related Information:

Dr. Thomas L. McKenzie Website
https://thomckenzie.com/

Dr. McKenzie Scholarships and Grants
https://www.iohsk.net/scholarships-grants

ScholarGPS Index
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=758087389804976&set=pb.100068111664228.-2207520000&type=3

The U.S. President’s Lifetime Service, Volunteer, and Contribution Award (2022)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=424247073189011&set=pb.100068111664228.-2207520000&type=3

IOHSK Lifetime Honorary President (since 2021)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=314610923652698&set=a.414515307495521&type=3