Renowned kinesiology scholar Karin A. Pfeiffer is now the Gwen Norrell Professor in Youth Sport and Student-Athlete Well-being. She is one of two scholars (along with Leapetswe Malete) to be named to the endowed professor title, effective in 2026.
Pfeiffer, a two-time MSU graduate, is the director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports and an MSU Red Cedar Distinguished Professor.
The professorship, which is effective through December of 2028, honors Gwendolyn Norrell, who was a nationally recognized proponent for student-athlete welfare, and a former MSU faculty member. The professorship title changes every three years to uplift a new scholar; previous honorees were Professor Emeritus Dan Gould and current Professor Tracey Covassin.
The professorship comes with funding to bolster research efforts, which Pfeiffer will use to hire graduate research assistants, reimburse for travel and create incentives for research participants.
Pfeiffer’s work will center on the physical and psychological effects of biobanding in high-level youth hockey players, particularly girls. Biobanding is a way to organize youth sports team competition; rather than by simply chronological age (all 14 year-olds on a team, all 15 year-olds on another), biobanding matches players based on their biological age (but still within their chronological age group) by assessing their size, along with their parents’ and grouping them as early, average or late maturers.
Pfeiffer will examine two components of biobanding in high-level youth hockey players, both boys and girls.
She will explore the physical and psychological effects on the players themselves — how does the practice shape their motivation, enjoyment of hockey? Pfeiffer will use surveys and interviews to catalogue qualitative data and also compute quantitative statistics through shots on goal, assists, fitness and similar metrics.
Pfeiffer’s team will also “explore parent and coach perceptions of the biobanding technique, primarily assessing this through qualitative interviews or focus groups.
Read more about Pfeiffer’s career in the Jan. 2026 edition of the New Educator magazine, including her election as leader of one of the top organizations in professional sports medicine and nomination to join the Board of Directors for an international agency.
The endowment for the Gwen Norrell Professor in Youth Sport and Student-Athlete Well-Being also created an annual speaker series. This year’s speaker is Nicole LaVoi, who is a senior lecturer in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota and director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. Her multidisciplinary research answers critical questions that can make a difference in the lives of girls and women in sport.
To learn more about how you can support the professorship or to contribute to expanding research, teaching, learning and or outreach at the MSU College of Education, contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations: educdev@msu.edu.
