Melissa Montgomery, once an athletic trainer for the women’s semi-professional team California Storm, is sharing her knowledge, skills and experience in the classroom as one of four new Kinesiology Department faculty members this fall.
Montgomery earned her doctorate degree in kinesiology with a concentration in applied neuromechanics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, along with two master’s degrees from the University of the Pacific and University of Tennessee. Prior to joining Cal State Fullerton, Montgomery taught at Cal State Northridge.
Why did you pursue the opportunity to join Cal State Fullerton?
The CAATE-accredited Athletic Training Program at CSUF is well-known and respected regionally and nationally. As an allied health profession, our undergraduate professional program is not only held to national accreditation standards, but to those of our profession.
CSUF has a long tradition of meeting and exceeding those expectations, due to the commitment of the AT faculty and also the continued support of the administration. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, I wanted to belong to a cohesive and supportive community with a “family feel.”
What do you most look forward to now that you’re here?
I look forward to being surrounded by faculty, staff, administration and most importantly, students, who are proud to be Titans and who do their best to represent the University.
What areas of continued scholarship and research are of particular interest to you?
My major area of interest is in risk factors that contribute to traumatic knee injuries in athletes. Specifically, I am interested in the role that body composition plays in biomechanics and the subsequent risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. This area of research spans the lifespan as early-onset osteoarthritis is a known consequence of traumatic knee joint injury.
My secondary area of interest is in developing appropriate training programs for youth sport athletes. The problem of youth sport injuries is becoming readily apparent and, therefore, we need to start using sport science-based data to inform our training regimens for skeletally immature athletes.
What are some of your outside activities, hobbies or interests?
I was a Division 1 college soccer athlete. Although my age and knee health precludes me from playing, I continue to follow college and international soccer. Hobbies include travel, home improvement projects and trying to be a “cool aunt” to my nieces.