South Dakota Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame honors Olson

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BROOKINGS – South Dakota State University’s Bernadette Olson was inducted into the South Dakota Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.

An associate professor in the Department of Health and Nutritional Sciences, Olson has been a certified athletic trainer since 1988. She started at South Dakota State in 1993 and has since educated thousands of students, treated and cared for student-athletes, served in university administrative roles and served the athletic training profession at the national, regional and state levels. She has also educated, tested and served thousands of South Dakota high school students through her concussion outreach project.

Her primary role now is to serve both the undergraduate and graduate athletic training education programs, both of which are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. South Dakota State is making the transition from the two programs into a full Master of Science in athletic training program. She also conducts research and serves as a mentor/adviser to undergraduate and graduate students.

In addition to her roles at State, Olson has been vice president and president of the board of directors for the Board of Certification Inc., the credentialing organization for athletic training. Olson also served as the Mid-America Athletic Trainers’ Association secretary from 1996 to 2004.

Inducted in 2014 into the Mid-America Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame, her honors include receiving the Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 2011 from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Olson was named the recipient of the Paul Grace Leadership Award and the Dan Libera Service Award from the Board of Certification Inc. Olson also received the 2007 South Dakota Athletic Trainer of the Year Award.