Rodger Kram
Summary
Rodger Kram, Ph.D. is an associate professor emeritus in the Integrative Physiology Dept. at the University of Colorado Boulder where he directs the Locomotion Laboratory. His primary research interest is the biomechanical basis for the energetic cost of locomotion. Rodger studies basic scientific aspects of walking and running in healthy, young people, and how obesity, aging, prosthetics and shoes affect locomotion energetics and biomechanics. In addition to his human studies, Rodger has studied more than 40 animal species ranging in size from ants to elephants and in speed from tortoises to pronghorn antelope. He invented the first useful force-measuring treadmill and enjoys devising novel devices to facilitate his research. He has published approximately 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including some in prestigious journals including Nature, Science and the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
Rodger earned his B.A. in Biology at Northwestern University, M.S. at Penn State, Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard. He was a post-doc then assistant professor at UC Berkeley until 2000. He served as president of the American Society of Biomechanics in 2008 and was the ASB Borelli award winner for lifetime career accomplishments in 2015. One of his greatest prides is that all of his Ph.D. students and post-docs have found gainful employment in science and most are tenure track faculty at major research universities.