Associate Professor, Exercise Science at Syracuse University,
lcolumna@syr.eduLuis Columna, a native of San Juan Puerto Rico, is currently an Associate Professor in the Exercise Science Department at Syracuse University. Prior to coming to Syracuse, Professor Columna was an Associate Professor at SUNY Cortland, NY. He is proud to be one of a few Hispanic Physical Education faculty at a Carnegie Classified RU/H Research University. Throughout his doctoral studies, he taught adapted physical education in the Denton, TX public schools. His research focuses on ways to increase the participation of families (especially Hispanic) of children with disabilities into physical activity and also his research focuses on ways to better prepare teachers to work with diverse populations. Columna is committed to providing service learning opportunities for students, which he does through the Cortland Adapted Swim Team, the Migrant Education Outreach Program, and SUNY Upstate Medical group visits. He also infuses Spanish and sign language into his courses so that students will develop important cross-cultural communication skills. Luis was the recipient of the “Leadership in Civic Engagement” award at SUNY Cortland.