Bob Karch is a Professor in the Department of Health Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences at American University in Washington D.C. and has been a member of the American University faculty since 1969. He is the founder of both the Masters of Science program in Health Promotion Management (1980) and the Bachelors Program in Health Promotion (1994). Dr. Karch is also the founder of both the University’s National Center for Health Fitness (NCHF -1980 – a Center that has completed more than 30 million dollars of research and programmatic activities for Federal and Private sector organizations) and the International Institute for Health Promotion (IIHP -1996 – a global network of distinguished Health Promotion Professionals from dozens of countries throughout the world). Bob also serves as American University’s Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and a member of the American University’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Bob has been the a recipient of numerous awards such as The Healthy American Fitness Leader Award presented by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Exceptional Leadership Award by the Association for Fitness in Business, and he became the first recipient of the U.S. Army’s Commanders Award for his extensive programmatic and research work with the United States Army’s Health Promotion and Fitness programs. He has served as President and Executive Director of National Fitness Leaders Association as well as a board member for the American Council on Exercise. In addition, he is a Member of several Science and/or Advisory Boards for businesses related to Health Promotion and Health Enhancing Technology products.
Professor Karch teaches courses in Global Health and Global Health Policy for upper level undergraduate students in Public Health and a Critical Issues in Health Promotion course as well as Strategic Planning and Management for Health Promotion, the capstone courses in the MS program.
He has done extensive research on the design, implementation, management, and evaluation of worksite health promotion programs and the cost and benefits analysis of such programs. In addition, he is the author or co-author of more than 30 articles for research and lay publications, several book chapters, and has co-authored a text, Health Promotion – Global Perspectives, an edited text that provides extensive details concerning the operation of Health Promotion Programs in twenty countries through the world.
He holds Bachelors (B.S.) and Masters (M.S.) degrees in Physical Education and a Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Higher Education Administration.