Faculty: Dr. Tony Kulas

An East Carolina University student in the Department of Kinesiology who is interested in furthering their research profile could lean on Dr. Tony Kulas, who can walk the hallways of Minges Coliseum and quickly match individual faculty members to their research focus.

Kulas is the department chair and a longtime faculty member who specializes in teaching and research in biomechanics with an athletic training background. He also is a lead facilitator for student and faculty success.

“Oftentimes, our students are wanting to get involved in other ways outside of the classroom,” he said. “When you get into the major, I think students appreciate the fact that faculty are available to them. All of our faculty are like that and supportive of the student experience, which can range from research to community-based projects to the kinesiology majors club. Students usually can find something within our department that they can sink their teeth into. We’re just trying to find the best fit for those students.”

Kulas recently surpassed the 20-year mark at ECU. He joined the Pirate faculty in the fall of 2005. He has led the Kinesiology Department since January 2024, shifting from interim chair to chair at the start of 2025.

Kulas stands outside of a Minges Coliseum entrance.

“It has helped me to see the totality of what everybody is doing,” Kulas said. “We have faculty who do a lot of different things that aren’t always visible, but they are pretty cool in what they do and everyone contributes in a positive way. I’ve enjoyed, as a chair, serving the faculty and the students, so they can all have rich experiences.”

Kinesiology is the broad study of human movement. Within kinesiology, Kulas added that biomechanists, who work in fields such as sport performance and injury prevention and rehabilitation, like to quantify movement.

ECU’s Department of Kinesiology features degree options in undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, including in exercise physiology, physical education and coaching science, sport performance science and the doctoral degree in bioenergetics and exercise science.

Like with any other profession or role, Kulas said time management is important to being a successful department chair. He also tries to keep student success at the forefront.

“We all feel like there are not enough hours in the day, but when you think about it and what you are doing it for, it’s to support the department’s degree programs and to support the department’s faculty and to support students,” he said. “That’s pretty neat.”

Departmental shifts during the last year were highlighted by coaching science implemented with physical education to enhance that curriculum, and sport performance science added as an undergraduate degree option. ECU soccer and other teams have worked with faculty members and students to boost their performance.

Kulas has enjoyed highlighting kinesiology representatives take advantage of their opportunities.

“It’s been good to see our newest curriculum offerings kind of lifting off,” Kulas said. “You see excitement around those programs, because they complement our other programs really well. The faculty drive it. All of the degree programs analyze and try to understand human movement and how humans move. We just do it in different ways.”