LIVINGSTON, Ala.—University of West Alabama Director of Athletic Training & Sports Medicine Dr. R. T. Floyd has been selected as a member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Induction ceremonies for Floyd and the remainder of the 2013 NATA Hall of Fame class will take place in Las Vegas in June.
 
Floyd, who's been a member of the UWA faculty since June 1980, is program director for the CAATE accredited athletic training education program and is chair and a professor in the Department of Physical Education and Athletic Training at UWA.
 
“I am very appreciative just to be considered. This is an absolutely tremendous honor and is really a credit to so many that have been so instrumental and supportive throughout my career,” Floyd said. “I appreciate the wonderful students, patients, staff and administration as well as my professional colleagues across the nation who have taught me so much.”
 
A licensed athletic trainer and emergency medical technician, Floyd is a certified member of numerous professional organizations including NATA, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the Athletic Equipment Managers' Association. 
 
The honor is one that UWA President Richard D. Holland says is most fitting for Floyd, one of UWA's most decorated faculty members.
 
“I have the highest regard for Dr. R. T. Floyd and the Athletic Training Program. He has provided this institution with dedication and integrity, and you hear this fact from the testimony of his students,” Holland said. “I believe that Dr. Floyd is one of the most productive faculty members on this campus, and he is all-deserving in every award he attains.”
 
Floyd maintains active membership in the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 
 
He serves as vice-president for district relations on the National Athletic Trainers' Association Research and Education Foundation Board of Directors and will become its president in June. Floyd previously represented the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association (SEATA) and District IX of the NATA as District Director to the NATA Board of Directors for eight years. 
 
Floyd's involvement with regional and national organizations, in addition to his campus work, is a testament to his work ethic, according to Holland.
 
“R.T. has no concept of a normal workday. He willingly works 24 hours a day,” Holland said.
 
Floyd served as the head athletic trainer for the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic in Montgomery from 1977 through 2001, after spending two years on the annual event's athletic training staff.  He is a 1974 graduate of Lowndes Academy, where he worked as an all-sports athletic trainer for four years, before earning a B.S. and M.A.T. in physical education from UWA in 1980 and 1982, as well as an Ed.D. in Human Performance Studies from the University of Alabama in 1995.
Floyd was named to the UWA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 and tabbed by "Outstanding Young Men of America" in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986. He was presented the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award by the NATA in 2003 and received the organization's Athletic Trainer Service Award in 1996. He received the District IX Award for Outstanding Contribution to the field of Athletic Training by SEATA in 1990 and the Award of Merit in 2001 before being inducted into the SEATA Hall of Fame in 2008. 
 
In 2004, Floyd was inducted into the Alabama Athletic Trainers' Association Hall of Fame.  In 2007, he received the NATA Sayers "Bud" Miller Distinguished Educator Award. The NATA Foundation recognized him with the Volunteer Service Award in 2011. He was named to Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2005.
 
In 1996 he was presented the College of Education Alumni Achievement Award by the University of West Alabama National Alumni Association.  In 1997, UWA recognized Floyd for outstanding achievement in scholarship, teaching, and leadership by presenting him with a Loraine McIlwain Bell Trustee Professorship.  In 2012, he was presented the Great Minds Award by the UWA Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Nellie Rose McCrory Service Excellence Award by UWA. 
 
Previously, Floyd served as President of the UWA Faculty Senate and completed two terms as President of the Alabama Council of University Faculty Presidents. In February 2013, he became chair of the Higher Education Partnership in Alabama. He is author of the textbook “Manual of Structural Kinesiology,” now in its 18^th edition, and co-author of "Kinesiology for Manual Therapies."
 
Floyd and wife Lisa reside in Livingston and have four children, Robert Thomas, Jeanna, Rebecca and Kate.