Faculty
Lynn A. Barnett-Morris, PhD
Dr. Barnett-Morris is Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her
areas of interest include analysis of play and its relation to development; investigation of toys and play spaces as facilitative of play; and resources
in research design and statistical analysis. Professor Barnett-Morris' areas of research include theoretical formulation of children's play; intrinsic
motivation and rewards; the effects of adult-structured play and extracurricular activities on children's development and interests; and the play of
children with special challenges and needs.
She received her PhD in Educational Psychology from the UIUC. She has been chosen to the University of Illinois' List of Excellent Teachers 14 years in a row.
Ryan Gower, PhD
Dr. Ryan Gower is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois. His research
line explores issues related to student learning, professionalism, and curriculum development. He is a lecturer for several undergraduate courses and
coordinates the capstone internship experience. As the Co-Director of the Office of Alumni and Career Services, he is developing programs and initiatives
that will reconnect alumni with the department and the undergraduate population. He has served the department as the undergraduate Academic Advisor, and
has provided leadership and service on several departmental and campus-wide committees. Dr. Gower is the recipient of the 2007 University of Illinois
Campus Award for Excellence in UndergraduateTeaching, as well as the Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award from the College of Applied Life Science.
Cary McDonald, PhD
Dr. McDonald is Associate Professor in Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. His areas
of research include application of social and behavioral science principles for understanding behavior in natural environments. Areas of application include
outdoor recreation resource planning, management and policy; human dimensions of natural resource management; nature-based tourism; and survey research methodology.
He received his PhD with an emphasis in Recreation Resource Management and with specializations in Outdoor Recreation Behavior/ Human Dimensions and Social
Sciences from the University of Minnesota's Department of Forest Resources.
Michael Raycraft, PhD
Dr. Raycraft has served on the University of Illinois Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism faculty since 1999. He has prepared and taught courses in
Ethics, Management, Finance, Marketing, and Event Studies for the Department.
Dr. Raycraft has been the Subject Matter Expert in creating RST 520: Foundations of Sport Management, RST 515: Sport Marketing and RST 594: Event Studies.
He has earned degrees in Accounting from the University of Kentucky and Leisure Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Carla Almeida Santos, PhD
Dr. Santos is the co-director of the Tourism Lab for Economic and Social Behavior Research. She serves on the editorial boards of Annals of Tourism
Research, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Culture and Communication, and the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Her research program is
focused on the examination of communicative practices (from mass mediated narratives to the face-to-face dyad) as a means of addressing the socio-political
and cultural impact of tourism on the world's people and cultures.
Her research interests include socio-cultural and political aspects of tourism, the personalized worlds of experience guided by tourism representations
and the ideological foreces that shape and organize them.
She is the recipient of many awards, including the International Travel and Tourism Research Association's Best Research Paper Award and the Arnold O.
Beckman Research Award. She earned a PhD in Mass Communications from Penn State University.
Monika Stodolska, PhD
Dr. Stodolska is Professor at the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her areas of
interest include improving our understanding of leisure behavior exhibited by ethic/racial minorities, exploring unique experiences of ethnic and racial
immigrant groups following their settlement in the host country as well as promoting adequate provision of leisure services to underprivileged members of
the society.
Professor Stodolska's research focuses on leisure behavior of ethnic and racial minorities and on constraints on leisure. She explores subjects such as
the effects of race and ethnicity on leisure behavior of recent immigrants, issues of cultural change and adaptation among minority groups, and transnationalism.
Other subjects that are prominent in her research include ethnic and racial discrimination in leisure settings, recreation behavior of minority populations in
natural environments, physical activity among minority groups, as well as constraints on leisure.
Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Stodolska has been recognized three times on the "Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students"
at the University of Illinois. She has a PhD in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Alberta.
Scott Tainsky, PhD
Dr. Tainsky joined the faculty in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism shortly after receiving his PhD in Sport Management from the University
of Michigan in 2008. His professional interest encompasses the fields of labor economics and policy, focusing on demographics and discrimination in sport and
how those relate to consumer demand. His research interests range from sport economics and sport finance, to discrimination and corporate social responsibility.
He is a member of the North American Society for Sport Management and the International Association of Sports Economists. He is also a former Rackham Regants
Fellow and was recognized with a Kinesiology Student Leadership Award for, among other things, being a member of the Curriculum Advisory Group at the University
of Michigan.