About Louis E. Alley

The Louis E. Alley Memorial Lecture was established in 1992 by the generous donation of Professor Alley's sister, Rebecca A. McCauley (Parkville, Missouri), his daughter, Rebecca A. Perez (San Antonio, Texas), his son, William Alley, and his grandsons, Steven and Robert Alley (Boone, Iowa).

Louis E. Alley was born in Drexel, Missouri in 1914 and died in March 1991. He received his B.S. degree in Physics with minors in mathematics and physical education from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, Missouri. After teaching for several years in the public schools in Missouri, he moved to the University of Wisconsin and received his M.S. degree in Physical Education and Education in 1941. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Iowa to assume a teaching position at the former University High School. In 1943 this was interrupted by a 2 1/2-year stint in the U.S. Navy where he served as an Air Navigation Instructor and on active duty in the Central Pacific. In 1946 he returned to the University High School as head of the Physical Education Department and as a football, basketball, and track coach. While in this position he completed his Ph.D. degree at the University of Iowa in 1949 and was appointed a faculty member in the Department of Physical Education in 1950. He rapidly moved through the academic ranks and was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1959 and appointed Head of the Department of Physical Education, which was the predecessor to the Department of Exercise Science, in 1960. He served as chair of the department for 18 years. After stepping down as chair in 1978 he continued on as a Professor in the Department until his retirement on January 1, 1983. Professor Alley was particularly noted for innovations in graduate education and his leadership set the groundwork for the current nature of the academic professors in Exercise Science. Through the generous contributions of his family, this annual lectureship is held in memory of Louis E. Alley.