WMU dean earns international service award

KALAMAZOO—Western Michigan University's newly appointed dean of the College of Education and Human Development Dr. Ming Li has been selected for an international award honoring outstanding service.

Li, who came to WMU Sept. 1 from Ohio University, will receive the North American Society for Sport Management's Garth Paton Distinguished Service Award during the organization's annual meeting in the spring. NASSM is the largest international professional association in the field of sport management.

The award annually recognizes a member's outstanding and ongoing service contributions to NASSM. The 2014 Conference will be May 27-31 in Pittsburgh.

Ming Li

Prior to taking on the position of dean at WMU, Li was interim executive director of the Center for International Studies at OU, serving since August 2012 as that university's senior international officer. He also filled a wide range of other administrative posts including inaugural chair of the Department of Sports Administration in OU's College of Business for two years, acting associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Health and Human Services for a year, and director of the School of Recreation and Sport Sciences from 2002 to 2010.

Earlier, he taught at Georgia Southern University for 11 years and was graduate coordinator for both the graduate and undergraduate sport management programs in GSU's Department of Recreation and Sport Management. He earned a bachelor's degree from Guangzhou Sport University in China in 1983, a master's degree from China's Hangzhou University in 1986, and a doctoral degree from the University of Kansas in 1992.

Li is active with a number of national and international professional organizations, including having served as president of the NASSM.