Paul Bernstein - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
2013 "Lifetime Achievement Award" Recipient
Nickname: "Mr. Physical Fitness USA”
Born: May 3, 1949 - Died: June 18, 2013
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Nickname: "Mr. Physical Fitness USA”
Paul began his health and fitness career in New York city, however it was in the Air Force that he received formal training under Dr. Ivan Kusinitz, a pioneer in Sports Medicine. A veteran of the Korean War, Sgt. Bernstein received numerous accommodations including the National Defense Medal and Good Conduct Medal and was honorably discharged in 1956.
In 1957, Paul opened his first health club, World Wide Health Spa, in Beaumont Texas helping to the concept of the modern-day "Health Clubs," which were formerly referred to as "gyms.” This flagship spa ultimately became one of more than 70 throughout twelve states, becoming one of the largest health club chains in the country. Paul has been a national spokesperson for health & fitness for more than 45 years. He has been known as, "Mr. Physical Fitness, USA" since 1960 when his “nick-name” was registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC. Paul has produced and hosted several television shows, conducted seminars and lecturers and written numerous advice columns which have appeared in national health and fitness magazines.
Paul has been interviewed by 48 hours, Prime Time, Texans and TNN-2000. He and wife, Sandy were married in Houston in a private ceremony on September 14, 1983. All toll they have four children, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Despite recognition and personal success stories, he still feels that his proudest achievements were those programs that rehabilitated wounded and traumatized soldiers returning from Korea.
Joe Bonomo - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Nickname: "Hollywood Hero"
Born: December 25, 1901 - Died: March 28, 1978
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Born Christmas Day in 1901, this legendary “Hollywood Actor and Strongman,” helped millions of men and women live happy, healthy and confident lives. Miriam Linna wrote, “Joe inherently knew that the key to success was a balanced combination of the mental, the physical, and the spiritual.”
Joe was one of the first “He-Man types” to encourage women to exercise. His innovative “Your Figure Beautiful” was a refreshing women's health and fitness magazine that included fashions, exercise, diet and more!
Prior to WW-II, Joe cautioned the nation saying, “at any time, may come demands that call for maximum physical preparedness, wherein not only our own future but the future of our country might be fatefully imperiled.”
Joe’s found great success in publishing a series of pocket-sized “mini” booklets that could be found at checkout counters of your local grocery store. These advice booklets covered; muscle building, bust-line contouring, simplifying housework, looking lovelier, using make-up, how to dance better and a host of other self-improvement topics.
Nancy Claussen - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Hometown: Oakbrook, Illinois
Website: www.nancyclaussen.com
Nancy has been involved in the fitness industry for over 30 years, both as a champion competitor in various sports, fitness and figure competitions and as an award winning instructor. Nancy created the extremely popular aqua-program, Swimnastics in the 80s and today it is taught all around the Chicago-area.
For a time, Nancy was known as "Hydro" in the Midwest production of the original American Gladiators television show. Nancy's philosophy is to empower one with healthy lifestyles skills and then, she believes, fitness can be a fun part of one's life. She teaches this philosophy during her unique spa retreats, that she conducts at the Atlantic Resort in the Bahamas. She and her husband, Phil, are consultants to the Bahamas Olympic Team.
Dr. Philip Claussen, DC - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Hometown: Oakbrook, Illinois
Website: www.oakbrookchiropractic.com
Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1978. He then attended the National College of Chiropractic earning his degree in 1983. Beginning in private practice, he has been at the same location in Oak Brook, expanding three times throughout the years.
In addition to being a Doctor of Chiropractic, he was the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Chicago Cubs in the 80s. Throughout the years he has used his chiropractic and strengthening skills for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins. He has also trained and worked on numerous professional athletes encompassing the sports of football, golf, tennis, hockey, auto racing, and bodybuilding.
Currently he is serving as a Team Doctor and Strength and Conditioning Coach for the country of the Bahamas. Said Dr. Phil, “Working the Pan Am Games and most recently the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, this was an amazing experience! “
Dr. Claussen has been in athletics all his life and believes in keeping up a healthy lifestyle himself. This motivates him to stay up on the latest information on health and nutrition. His practice has been dedicated to his mother and father who helped from the beginning to make the office a success.
Dr. Nicholas A. DiNubile, MD - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Born: June 29, 1952
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Website: www.DrNick.com
Dr. Nick is an Orthopaedic Surgeon specializing in Sports Medicine in private practice in Havertown, Pennsylvania. He is the bestselling author of the FrameWork series of health and wellness books and is also Executive Producer and host of the award winning national PBS television special, “Your Body’s FrameWork.” Dr. DiNubile has served as Orthopaedic Consultant to the Philadelphia 76ers Basketball Team and Pennsylvania Ballet. He was appointed Special Advisor to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (1st Bush Administration with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chairman). He has advised two United Stated Presidents on matters of health and health policy, and has cared for numerous celebrities and high level athletes. He is the Vice President of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), Chief Medical Advisor for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and is on the Global Advisory Board for the International Sports Hall of Fame. Dr. DiNubile was a contributor to the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health and is Executive Editor of the Physician and Sportsmedicine Journal.
Dr. DiNubile is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. He is a lead spokesperson for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Dr. DiNubile has been consistently chosen in “Best Doctors in America” and is also named a US News & World Report “Top Doctor.” He received the prestigious HAFL (Healthy American Fitness Leaders) Award and was also inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame as well as the Philadelphia Sports Medicine Hall of Fame. He has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, HBO Real Sports, National Public Radio, and in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Newsweek, and numerous other publications. Through his extensive media work, he is one of the most quoted doctors in America. Dr DiNubile’s website, DrNick.com is a trusted source of health, fitness and sports medicine information as is his twitter feed @DrNickUSA
Dr. Nick resides in Haverford, PA with his wife, Mary Beth and his children Emily and Dylan.
John Hansen - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Hometown: Willowbrook, Illinois
Website: www.johnhansenfitness.com
John Hansen is a natural drug-free bodybuilder who won the Natural Mr. Universe title twice and was the winner of the first Mr. Natural Olympia. His 25-year career in bodybuilding also includes the Natural America's Cup Championships, Mr. Natural North America, Natural Illinois, Mr. Illinois, Mid-America Championships and the Illinois Cup.
John is the author of Natural Bodybuilding, published by Human Kinetics. In 2000 he began writing a column for IRONMAN magazine entitled "Naturally Huge." He is also involved in personal training and motivational speaking, where he educates students and adults in the most effective ways to lose lose fat, build muscle and completely transform the body.
In 2006 Hansen released his first DVD, titled 'Real Muscle', which focuses on effective weight training methods for
A year later in 2007, Hansen released his second DVD which covered a wider range of subjects, including competition preparation and nutrition, as well as recordings of John Hansen's competitions with an optional commentary track.
Jim Lorimer - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
2011 "Lifetime Achievement Award" Recipient
Born: October 7, 1926
Hometown: Bristol, PA
Jim Lorimer was a football star in high school. He served in the Navy in World War II and joined the FBI out of college. He worked for decades for Nationwide Insurance. He was/is still the mayor of his hometown, but his great talent is as a promoter.
He watched the USSR beat the USA in an Olympic-style dual meet in 1959. The defeat spurred him to organize an Olympic prep course for teen girls that changed the way the U.S. prepares for Olympiads.
Jim partnered with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1989 to promote the Arnold Sports Festival. With more than 70 sports and events, including 14 Olympic sports, the 2017 Arnold Sports Festival presents fitness and fun for all ages. The festival has expanded into the world’s largest multi-sport fitness weekend since 1989 and now more than 175,000 sports fans and 18,000 athletes compete in more than 70 sports and events.
Bob Richards - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Born: February 20, 1926
Hometown: Champaign, Illinois
Robert Eugene Richards; “Bob” is an American retired athlete, minister, and politician. He made three U.S. Olympic Teams in two events: the 1948, 1952, and 1956 Summer Olympics as a pole vaulter and as a decathlete in 1956. He won gold medals in pole vault in both 1952 and 1956, becoming the only male two-time champion in the event in Olympic history. While still an active athlete, Richards became an ordained minister. He also ran for President of the United States in 1984 on the Populist Party ticket.
Richards later became involved in promoting physical fitness and continued to vault in his later years. He was the first athlete to appear on the front of a Wheaties cereal box in 1958 and also was the first Wheaties spokesman, setting up the Wheaties Sports Federation, which encouraged participation in Olympic sports.
Richards was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2000 in the area of Sports. Bob was inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2009 and was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Jan Todd, PhD - 2009 NFHOF Inductee
Born: May 22, 1952
Hometown: Austin, TX
Jan Todd, Fellow in the Roy J. McLean Fellowship in Sport History, is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Todd directs the Sport Management graduate and undergraduate programs and co-directs the Ph.D. program in Physical Culture and Sport Studies with Tommy Hunt. She teaches courses that cover the history of sport and physical activity, critical issues in American sport history, sport philosophy, sport and ethics, and the history of physical culture and alternative medicine.
In 2015, Todd was elected to the presidency of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) and served as NASSH president until May 2019. In September 2011, Dr. Todd was also named a Fellow in the National Academy of Kinesiology for her many contributions to the field of Kinesiology. She was similarly recognized in 2011 by NASSH and was given their Honor Award for her many and varied contributions to the field of Sport History
Jan Todd and her husband, Terry Todd, founded the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center, home to the largest archive in the world devoted to the study of physical culture, sport, resistance training, and alternative medicine, in 1983, serving as co-directors until his death in 2018. The collection, housed at UT-Austin, is regularly used by on-campus and visiting scholars and by Todd’s Ph.D. students. Todd also serves as co-editor of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, a scholarly periodical exploring the history of exercise and physical fitness founded by the Todds in 1990.
Todd’s research focuses on the history of exercise, particularly the history of strength and the history of doping. She has written two books: Physical Culture and the Body Beautiful: Purposive Exercise in the Lives of American Women (Mercer University Press, 1998), and (with Terry Todd) Lift Your Way to Youthful Fitness (Little-Brown, 1985), the first popular book to argue that weight training could be used to offset the aging process. She also collaborated on a third book, Strength Coaching in America (University of Texas Press, 2019), with Jason Shurley and Terry Todd that was published the year after Terry's death.
In addition, Todd has written more than a hundred articles in popular and scholarly journals on various aspects of sport and exercise history, anabolic steroids, strength training, and exercise. She also served as a producer and historical consultant for the 2016 documentary Stoneland about the strength traditions of Scotland. The video is available on YouTube.
