Rate My Professor Ozan Atalağ

Ozan Atalağ serves as Chair and Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where he joined in 2016 and received tenure in 2021. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor at Girne American University in northern Cyprus from 2012 to 2016, during which he developed the coaching education program for the physical education department. Earlier, while completing his Ph.D. in 2012, Atalağ worked as a strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer for professional athletes in windsurfing, soccer, and tennis, and held a teaching assistant position during graduate school. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and has contributed to faculty and program committees at UH Hilo.

Atalağ's research examines the effects of different exercise modalities and forms on human health and performance, with emphasis on post-activation potentiation, resistance training, physiological impacts of travel on athletes, and lower limb strength asymmetries. Notable publications include 'Postactivation potentiation effects of Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust exercise on vertical jump and sprinting performance' (Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 2020), 'Is complex training superior to drop jumps or back squats for eliciting a post activation potentiation enhancement response?' (Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 2021), 'Kinanthropometric attributes of young male combat sports athletes' (2013), 'Anthropometrical determinants of deadlift variant performance' (2019), and 'Side-to-side asymmetry in lower limb strength and hamstring-quadriceps strength ratio among collegiate American football players' (2019). Under his leadership, the department has expanded to become the second largest at UH Hilo, featuring a relocated resistance training lab for hands-on classes and research. Atalağ mentors students who pursue careers as trainers, coaches, military personnel, firefighters, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and exercise therapists on Hawaiʻi Island. He supports programs like the Fitness Trainer Preparation Certificate.