Gregg Twietmeyer

For Mississippi State University Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Greggory J. “Gregg” Twietmeyer, the concept of “play” has been important to his personal and professional endeavors.

He recognizes that acts of play have made major differences to his life and in those of others by providing experiences, practices and endeavors pursued simply for their own sakes. Such experiences are found most consistently in sports and art for the Pennsylvania State University doctoral graduate who came to Starkville in 2015 from West Virginia’s Marshall University.

Twietmeyer is well-travelled. His higher education study began at Michigan’s Concordia University Ann Arbor, where he received a bachelor’s degree in art and was a member of the varsity soccer team. He went on to earn a master’s in sport management from the University of Michigan. In addition to Marshall and Concordia, he has worked at Penn State and Albion College, as well as with the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.

Twietmeyer said he was drawn to teach and conduct research at MSU because its kinesiology department, housed in the College of Education, is home to a new doctoral program.

“If you can really help mold a future generation of scholars in a good way, then you’re really moving the discipline forward,” he said.

As an added benefit, he finds Starkville to be “a great town” with a “good Southern flavor.” While the Michigan native and his wife have joked about the less-than-Michigan “winters,” they agree that the community is a very welcoming place, he said.

Twietmeyer has given back to the community by launching and continuing to direct the Bulldog Bike Camp, a special program sponsored through the kinesiology department that teaches children with special needs how to independently operate two-wheel bicycles. For more, see www.bulldogbike.msstate.edu/news.html.

Since arriving on campus, he also has seen the release of “The Fundamentals of Sports Ethics.” Printed by Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., his 264-page textbook is designed to introduce basic concepts sport philosophers often take for granted and about which many that are part of the game often struggle. He also has taken the findings of his research to professional gatherings in South Korea and England.