PULLMAN – Dr. Bruce Becker, founder of the National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute based at WSU, is one of the “Power 25” leaders recognized this month by “Aquatics International” magazine.
Becker is a research professor in the department of educational leadership and counseling psychology, home to WSU’s kinesiology programs.
“From producing ground-breaking research to changing safety standards, these industry leaders are pushing the envelope and striving to reinvent aquatics,” said the magazine’s editors.
Becker’s childhood experience with polio introduced him to the therapeutic effects of aquatics, the magazine said in its profile of Becker. After retiring from his Spokane medical practice, he launched the aquatics institute in 2008 with support from the National Swimming Pool Foundation.
Becker hopes that the institute will become “the center of the universe in terms of research in this field,” the magazine wrote. “With Becker at the helm, that’s not out of the question. Completed research has documented the benefits of immersion, and further research will seek to explain why activity in the water is good for the human body.”
For the magazine’s Power 25 list and Becker profile, check here.
Click here for more information on the National Aquatics & Sports Medicine Institute.