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alumni newsKessler to live Olympic dream in AthensDon Kessler, a 1970 Ozarksalumnus, remembers watchingthe 1968 Olympic Games atthe university's student center betweenclasses. Thirty-six years later, Kesslerwill be at this summer’s OlympicGames in Athens, Greece, as a memberof the U.S. Olympic Team trainingstaff.Kessler, 56, has been involved inathletic training for 31 years. He hasbeen the head athletic trainer atRutgers University in Piscataway, N.J.,for 17 years, where he oversees 11 fulltimetrainers, 30 NCAA Division Isports programs and 1,000 athletes.He will be a part of the U.S.medical team at the Olympics inAugust. His responsibility during thefirst week of competition will be withthe U.S. rowing teams. After that hewill work with other U.S. athletes atthe Olympic Village clinic.“Working the Olympics in Athensis really a wonderful culmination ofmy career in athletic training,” Kesslersaid. “Having been an athlete andinvolved in athletics all my life, theOlympics is the epitome of athleticcompetition and it’s an incredible honorto be a part of it. It’s even more specialwith it being in Athens, the birthplace ofthe Games.”A native of New Jersey, Kesslertransferred from Rutgers to Ozarks inthe late 1960s because he wanted toattend a small school where he couldhave opportunities to excel in athleticsand academics and to "get away" fromthe larger cities. He quickly found hisniche at Ozarks, competing in soccer,cross country and track while makingthe dean’s list each semester. Thoughplanning to be a coach, he also found alove for athletic training when he took aclass under Coach Jerry Wagoner.“It was a small course in taping andinjury recognition, but it really whettedmy appetite,” Kessler said. “I think Irealized that this type of knowledgecould help me in my coaching career.As I got more and more involved in it, Irealized there might be a pretty goodcareer in athletic training.”Kessler credits his coaches atOzarks, Wagoner, Lonnie Qualls andFrank Ingram, as well as professors andadministrators such as Prof. T.L. Smith,Levada Qualls and Fritz Ehren forhelping him go on to graduate school atthe University of Arkansas and to a longand successful career as an athletictrainer.“I've been around thousands ofcoaches in my career and the ones I hadat Ozarks like Coach Wagoner andCoach Qualls were as good as any I'vebeen around,” he said. “They wereoutstanding role models for youngpeople. They were very concernedabout your well-being and went out oftheir way to help you and prepare you.The coaches and professors I had atOzarks taught and inspired me in a waythat I've learned to appreciate more andDon Kessler ’70 with two members of theUnited States Olympic Rowing Team.Kessler will serve as the team’s officialtrainer at this summer’s Olympic Games.more each year.”After earning a master’s degree inphysical education, Kessler wasdrafted by the Navy, where his interestin medicine continued to prosper as heworked as a medical corpsman. Thatled to his first job as an athletic trainerat the U.S. Naval Academy. He worked10 years as an assistant trainer atPrinceton before taking over the headathletic training job at nearby Rutgersin 1987.Kessler has a son Gregg, who is acoach in California. He and his wifeMaggie live in North Brunswick, N.J.Kessler still has the Ozarks text bookfrom Coach Jerry Wagoner’s athletictraining class that sparked his life-longpassion in the profession.Today, SPRING/SUMMER 2004 29