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Mark Huntington ’ 76
Graduate blazed the trail at MU
E lkhart General Hospital is 64 miles as the crow flies from Manchester University , so it ’ s likely not the first place you ’ d think to look for one of MU ’ s many curricular origin stories .
Which is why Mark Huntington calls it serendipity or fate or maybe just happy circumstance , what happened that day in 1984 .
Huntington , who ’ d earned a bachelor ’ s degree in biology at what was then Manchester College , was working as a physical therapist at Elkhart General at the time , having earned his master ’ s in physical therapy at Boston University . One day Manchester contacted him to come down and participate in a career fair at his alma mater , and while he was there , then-athletic director Terry Heavilon came around to say hi .
“ I asked ‘ When is Manchester going to hire an athletic trainer ?’ Because they hadn ’ t had one at that point ,” recalls Huntington , now dean for Natural and Health Sciences , a professor of exercise science and athletic training and the program director for graduate athletic training education at Manchester .
“ He said you need to talk to our department chair . I went over to talk to Onita Johnson , who was the department chair at that time , and we talked for a bit , and she said the position had been approved . And about a week later in the mail I got a position announcement and was invited to apply .”
Not long after , Huntington came down for an interview . And not long after that , he found himself not only serving as Manchester ’ s first , and , at the time , only athletic trainer , but launching what would become Manchester ’ s athletic training program .
It began humbly , Huntington says , when Manchester added two courses – Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries and Advanced Athletic Training – and Huntington was hired to teach them . It amounted to four semester hours , and Huntington had two students .
“ Now back in the day , understand , one could become a certified athletic trainer by accumulating 1,800 clock hours experience under the supervision of a certified athletic trainer ,” Huntington says . “ There were no course requirements , there was no curriculum per se . Nothing like that .”
That would change over the years , both within the profession as a whole and within Manchester ’ s curriculum for it . Throughout the 1980s , more courses were added , and by 1993 athletic training had become a major . Within five years of that , the program became accredited . In 2010 , Manchester added a Master of Athletic Training program .
In keeping with Manchester ’ s long tradition of being on the academic cutting edge , the accreditation and the launch of the MAT program were “ ahead of the curve ” initiatives , according to Huntington . So , too , is the phasing out of the stand-alone undergraduate program in advance of the industry mandate that , as of 2026 , those who wish to take the certification test will be required to have a Master of Athletic Training degree .
“ We still have students here who will get their bachelor ’ s degree , so we have undergrads who will graduate with a B . A . in athletic training and be eligible to take the exam ,” Huntington says . “ But this is the last class of first-year students ( in that program ).”
By Benjamin Smith
Manchester | 15