Dan Gould, a Michigan State University professor emeritus and a globally recognized scholar, has received the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) Distinguished Scholar Award. Each year, the award recognizes senior scholars who have made outstanding, long-term contributions to NASPSPA’s research areas and have demonstrated a record of high-quality scholarship that has significantly impacted the field.
Gould, who is the second Spartan ever to receive the award, is best known for his research on stress, burnout, life skills development and talent development in athletes. His work comprises more than 200 publications and was funded by numerous national organizations, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. His work has been cited more than 42,000 times.
“Dan Gould has been a pioneer in developing the model of scientist-practitioner in the field of sport psychology, both in the U.S. and around the world. The academics of my generation in the field of sport and exercise psychology learned the fundamentals from his textbooks and his many research articles,” said Department of Kinesiology Chairperson Paddy Ekkekakis. “Over his long career, Dan also cultivated sport psychology as a respected and valuable field of professional practice. The honors he is receiving, such as the most recent award from NASPSPA, are a small token of appreciation from the global field of sport psychology for his unique role in building the field into what it is today.”
Gould retired in 2022. Prior to retirement, he directed the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and was the inaugural Gwen Norrell Professor of Youth Sport and Student-Athlete Well-Being.
Gould was recognized at NASPSPA’s annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, in June 2024.
An extraordinary career
In 2023, Dan Gould was one of the first 10 living scholars inducted into the International Society for Sports Psychology Hall of Fame.
He was also a key contributor to several leading books in the field, including co-author of “Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology” (Human Kinetics, 2023), “Sport Coaches’ Handbook” (Human Kinetics, 2021) and “Reflections on Career in Sport Psychology: An autobiography and reflections on teaching, research and professional practice” (Outskirts Press, 2021).
Other highlights include receiving the U.S. Center for Coaching Excellence’s Coach Education/Coach Developer Legacy Award (2022) and being named USA Wrestling Person of the Year (1985) for his sport science and coaching education efforts. In 1995, he was named a National Academy of Kinesiology Fellow — one of the most prestigious honors in the field.