Loy accepts McGee Professorship
The East Carolina University College of Health and Human Performance celebrates the selection of Dr. David Loy, professor of recreational therapy and an expert in the disciplines of recreation sciences and adaptive sport, for the esteemed Jerry E. McGee Distinguished Professorship. This honor recognizes Loy’s productivity in research, teaching and service, as well as his capacity to make a positive impact through scholarly activities.
The Jerry E. McGee Distinguished Professorship resulted from generosity shown by McGee, a 1965 ECU graduate in health and physical education, to benefit faculty, students and HHP overall.
Dr. David Loy smiling in Minges Coliseum.
Loy is a professor in the Department of Recreation Sciences who began his career at ECU in 2001. He has served as recreational therapy program director, department graduate director, associate dean in HHP and leads the college’s Design4Disability prevention science initiative, which led to ECU embracing and implementing the more active looking accessible parking icon on campus. He also is serving his second term as a board member of the Committee on Accreditation for Recreational Therapy Education. Loy supports HHP’s priority in experiential learning by emphasizing student experiences in adaptive sport at the international level, including the 2026 Winter Paralympics (Milano-Cortina, Italy), 2024 Summer Paralympic Games (Paris, France), 2024 Special Olympics Cultural Exchange Program (Peru) and the 2023 Special Olympic World Games (Berlin, Germany). Loy has more than 50 publications and has delivered more than 100 presentations on topics such as the therapeutic effects of adaptive sports and recreation, wheelchair propulsion biomechanics and sensory integration in neurodivergent populations.
The McGee Professorship will support his work examining ways to increase athlete performance and access in adaptive sport and recreation. For example, Loy has recently developed devices such as the patent-pending Rink Ramp, a device to help parahockey players with disabilities access ice rinks, and promoted others such as the Beep Kickball, a ball designed specifically to help children and adults with visual impairments play kickball. His other current research is focused on the physiological effects of sensory spaces to promote inclusion and sensory modulation at public sports and recreation events.
McGee was honored in 2008 by ECU as an Outstanding Alumni Award winner. He is a former acclaimed president of Wingate, and when he retired in 2015, he was the longest tenured college or university president in the Carolinas. In sports, McGee officiated more than 400 major college football games in 36 years and is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. He received the civilian honor of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2006, recognizing his extraordinary service to the state.