Dana D. Brooks

Dana Brooks was inducted into the College of Applied Human Sciences Hall of Fame in the fall of 2025. He was previously inducted into the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Hall of Fame in 2021.

Brooks began his West Virginia University career in the 1970s as a graduate teaching assistant before moving into faculty and administrative roles, including instructor, minority recruitment and retention coordinator, acting graduate coordinator, acting chairperson, and associate dean. In 1992, he was appointed interim dean of what was then the School of Physical Education. The following year, he became the permanent dean, a role he held until his retirement in 2019.

During his tenure, Brooks oversaw significant growth and transformation within the College. He led the expansion of undergraduate and graduate programs, the transition to a new academic facility with advanced labs and classrooms, and the recruitment of faculty who built nationally recognized research portfolios. In 2007, he guided the renaming of the unit as the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences. He also secured endowed professorships, including the Ware Distinguished and Dr. Pat Fehl Endowed Professorships, and oversaw the development of the International Center of Performance Excellence and FiT Publishing.

Brooks was a fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education and served as president of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (now SHAPE America). He contributed service on numerous University and community committees, including the WVU Athletics Council, Black Community Concerns, Social Justice Council, and Affirmative Action. He also administered the National Youth Sports Program, a four-week summer camp for underserved youth that provided sports, enrichment, physicals, meals, and transportation to more than 8,000 children in Monongalia County over three decades.

A scholar of sports integration and the African American sport experience, Brooks authored and co-edited works such as Racism and College Athletics (third edition) and Diversity and Social Justice in College Sports, in addition to book chapters and more than 100 professional presentations.

His career has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Order of Vandalia in 2023, WVU’s highest award for service to the institution. Additional recognitions include the Dean’s Recognition Award from Towson University, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Hagerstown Junior College, the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award from WVU’s Center for Black Culture and Research, the Neil S. Bucklew Social Justice Award, the Martin Luther King Jr. “Living the Dream” Award from the West Virginia Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission, and induction into the Hagerstown Junior College Sports Hall of Fame.