About Us

Former Ducks track coach Bill Bowerman and two other men walking on the Hayward Field track towards the Bowerman Building. (circa 1992.)

History

 

What happens when you mix innovation, passion for sport, and the rigor of the scientific process?

“A space… designated for use as a research fitness center, shall be used by the International Institute of Sport for the study of sport.”

– Agreement between Bill Bowerman and the University of Oregon that established the Bowerman Family Building.

 

          It was a simple agreement that grew out of a love of athletics shared between Professor Jan Broekhoff and Coach Bill Bowerman, and mutual respect between these two great leaders. The concept that Oregon could be the spiritual heart of track & field and an innovation hub for the rigorous scientific study of human performance has its roots in conversations between Broekhoff and Bowerman. The question was how to meld athletics and academics. Bowerman tasked his building project team with creating shared spaces that could support the growth of track & field and the academic mission of Broekhoff’s department, while also making scientific expertise available to his beloved community of “joggers” and athletes (“If you have a body, you are an athlete” – Bowerman). They added a wing to the building for the purpose of bringing the best scientific work on human performance to the trackside. This was initially known as the International Institute for Sport and Human Performance (IISHP), which began operating out of the southern wing of the building in 1992.

Over the next three decades, Broekhoff’s department evolved into today’s Department of Human Physiology. In 2004, Human Physiology re-launched an exercise and fitness testing program with a three-fold mission encompassing research, teaching, and service, as an evolution of the IISHP. Building on the success of the program, the building was remodeled in 2008 to serve as Bowerman Sports Science Clinic. When Hayward Field was renovated in 2019, an expanded space was created for the renamed Bowerman Sports Science Center. The center consolidates cutting-edge testing “cores” into a single location, creates an exercise performance “think tank” environment, translates the latest advances in sports science into immediate benefits for elite athletes, generates exciting educational opportunities for students, and accelerates the sharing of sports science knowledge with the greater exercise community. 

For more history on the entirety of Hayward field click here.

 

Facilities

We work in world class facilities that were custom-built to best support our research approach and facilitate the application of science to athletes.

Biomarkers Core: We process samples (blood, serum, interstitial fluid, and muscle biopsy tissue) to explore signal pathways, mechanisms of action, and biomarkers of health and human performance.

Integrative Studies: A flexible space for sophisticated research protocols that explore how multiple physiological systems respond in exercising humans.

Cardiovascular Studies: A specially designed space for research on cardiovascular health, wellness, and function.

Exercise & Environmental Physiology Core: This core houses specialized tools for research, education, application, and outreach on how humans respond to exercise and environmental stressors like hot and cold.

Climate Chamber: Our suite of environmental chambers can sustain temperatures below freezing and up to the limits of human tolerance. We can set humidity from arid to stifling. We can simulate the effects of 20,000 feet of altitude, as well as solar radiation, and wind.

Biomechanics Lab: A state of the art lab with in ground force sensing treadmill, advanced motion capture systems and over 200 meters of track surface for participant evaluation.