By Amanda Mlekush
App State Kinesiology professor and undergraduate program director N. Travis Triplett, PhD, is nationally recognized as a trailblazer in the field of strength and conditioning.
Over the past three decades, she has collected numerous national, regional and university-based accolades and honors–most recently being honored with the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Lifetime Contributions Award at the association’s 2025 National summer conference in Kansas City, MO.
Triplett is the first active App State faculty member to receive the Boyd Epley Award for NCSA Lifetime Contributions and only the second university faculty member ever to receive the honor. (Image at right shows Dr. Triplett with Epley Award.)
“I am honored and humbled to receive the award, which reflects the years I have devoted to this organization and what it is doing for the field of Strength and Conditioning,” said Triplett. “When you care about your profession, it’s easy to say yes to things. I try to do my best when I commit to things, and that has led to other opportunities.”
About The Epley Award
According to NSCA, the Epley Lifetime Contributions Award honors individuals “who have exhibited historical impact, achievements, and dedication to the NSCA during their careers. Named after NCSA founder Boyd Epley, this award is considered the most prestigious honor a member can achieve.”
Triplett’s contributions to the profession–and NCSA–are well documented, as is the fact that she has often been the first female to achieve various leadership roles and designations.
In 2017, Triplett was elected the first female to serve as NCSA president, and she was inducted as a NCSA fellow in the association’s inaugural class in 2007. She has also served in editorial roles for the association’s two primary journals, and for the primary textbook published by the organization. (Image shows a "passing the gavel" moment at NSCA conference; photo provided).
Career Leads Back To Home and App State
Triplett, who says she was born on the App State campus (the previous Watauga County Hospital is now Watson-Brumit Hall), grew up in Boone with her father working at the university and her mother working as a local teacher.
For her undergraduate degree, she headed east to Wake Forest University where she ran track for the Deacons. After graduating with a Health and Sport Science degree, she later attended Appalachian State to earn a master’s in Exercise Science and earned a Ph.D. in Physiology of Exercise from The Pennsylvania State University.
After working as a faculty member and the Director of the Strength Centers at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, she returned to her hometown to join the Exercise Science (now Kinesiology) faculty at App State in 2003.
“I feel like I’m a normal faculty member who has taken on some leadership roles within my department and the university and at the national level with the NCSA,” said Triplett. “I always try to stay connected to the students because I want to make sure I’m there to help them.
Triplett has served on four NASA panels, including one developing resistance exercise countermeasures for microgravity environments aboard the International Space Station. In 2023, she, along with other App State faculty, collaborated with App State Baseball to design a state-of-the-art pitching lab that analyzes biomechanics and math to help pitchers improve their performance and minimize injury. (Image shows Triplett at a conference with App State students; image provided.)
Triplett has served as the undergraduate program director for (previously Exercise Science) Kinesiology since 2010; she has also served the department as interim chair. In 2025, she was inducted into the App State Williams School of Graduate Studies Academy of Outstanding Mentors; she received the Beaver College of Health Sciences’ Outstanding Service Award in 2019 and in 2025 was awarded Outstanding Faculty member. Google Scholar notes she is the fourth most cited faculty member of the entire App State faculty, amassing 21,000 citations, with an h-index of 70 and i10-index of 105. (Image shows Triplett and Dr. Jared Skinner from Kinesiology at the induction of outstanding mentors with Dean Ashley Colquitt, Dr. Adam Newmark and Dr. Ross Gosky; photo by University Communications.)
“I am delighted that Travis has received this well-deserved award,” said Beaver College of Health Sciences Dean Marie Huff, PhD. “She is a true leader in every sense of the word. As the first female president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, both faculty and students look up to her as a role model and program expert.”
Additional Media:
NCSA: Read more about the Epley Award and Triplett’s contributions to NSCA
App State Athletics: App State Unveils State-of-the-art Pitching Lab
The Appalachian: Exercise Science Professor Puts Boone On The Map
NCSA video: Why Membership Matters (Video Clip from N. Travis Triplett)
Woman stands with large crystal trophy inside an office
Dr. Travis Triplett shows the Epley Award