Dr. William Karper Retires after 44 years at UNCG

Posted on May 19, 2022

After an impressive 44 years of service to UNC Greensboro, Dr. William Karper retired from the Department of Kinesiology in May, 2022.  During his tenure at UNCG, Dr. Karper has made numerous and valuable contributions to the department, school, and university that have ranged across teaching and advising, research, curriculum development, and institutional service and spanned more than four decades.

Dr. Karper has provided dedicated and distinguished service to UNCG for his entire academic career, coming to UNCG in 1978 upon completion of his EdD at New York University. As a member of the Exercise Physiology faculty, he has made valuable contributions to teaching and advising in this area. He has taught both undergraduate and graduate level courses with particular unique contributions made through coursework on Exercise and Older Adults. He was also the coordinator of the Exercise Science Internship program for many years.

A founding member of the faculty group that initiated the department’s online professional doctorate (EdD), Dr. Karper contributed to curriculum design, applicant review, instruction, and doctoral mentoring. He serves on EdD dissertation committees and plans to continue contributing in this capacity in his retirement.

Dedicated to research and community engagement, Dr. Karper was initially the co-director of the Motor and Social Behavior Laboratory (1979-1982) and later of an exercise program for adults with chronic lung disease (1985-1986). He has also served as the Director of the Fibromyalgia Research and Service Program from 1998-present. This initiative has resulted in numerous publications and the provision of valuable community-engaged field-based research for over 20 years.

Not content to rest in his retirement, Karper intends to continue offering his fibromyalgia program in a volunteer capacity, providing valuable community outreach, and will continue to work with the Physical Activity and Alzheimer’s Disease 2 (PAAD2) study, a funded R01 from NIH that is focused on advancing our understanding of physical activity as a preventative behavior for those at risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Please join us in congratulating Bill Karper for an exemplary career and well-earned retirement!

In honor of Dr. Karper, the Department of Kinesiology is collecting donations for the National Fibromyalgia Association. Email [email protected] or visit our office in Coleman 250 for details about how you can contribute – donations will be collected through May 24, 2022.