SLIPPERY ROCK — A professorship is not usually thought of as a particularly physical profession, but one Slippery Rock University professor feels that being active is a lifestyle.

Jeff Lynn, 44, of Slippery Rock wants to change the culture of wellness both on and off the SRU campus.

“We feel we need to create a culture that embraces wellness and healthy behavior,” said Lynn, an exercise science professor.

As a way to help instill this behavior, SRU last year started an initiative called Exercise is Medicine.

Exercise is Medicine is a national initiative that promotes physical activity as one of the best ways to prevent disease. The overall goal is to have doctors recommend physical activity to patients.

Lynn said the program is important because exercise has been shown to help prevent obesity, heart disease, diabetes and depression.

“It's more powerful than any other medicine we've got,” Lynn said.

Lynn first heard about the program a few years ago. It had been implemented at Chatham, so he went there to see it in action.

He met professor Carina Winters there. When a professor post opened at SRU a year later, Lynn recommended that Winters apply and help start a similar program at SRU.

Winters did come to the school.

Lynn said that SRU's program is a successful prototype for such a program on a college campus.

“It's a multilevel approach we take to Exercise is Medicine,” Lynn said.

SRU's program includes several components, including Walk the Rock, in which people try to walk 10,000 steps, and the Rock Personal Training program, in which people who have memberships at the Abersold Recreation Center pay $75 for a semester's worth of personal training from undergraduate students in the exercise science program.

The program also has included Zumba “flash mobs” and Frisbee “flash mobs” on campus to try to get students involved.

“We want to focus on fun ways. If it's more like play and less like working out, people might do it,” Lynn said.

The program has received national attention, winning the inaugural “Exercise is Medicine Active U Challenge” competition sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine for launching the nation's most comprehensive Exercise is Medicine initiative in 2011.

The judging committee said it selected SRU because it determined that the school's initiative showed the most creativity, sustainability and it best used the principle that exercise is an integral part of health care and daily life.

SRU beat out universities such as the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado.

Lynn did not always want to be an exercise science professor.

He originally got his degree in finance and business management from Kent State University in 1990.

“I didn't know what I was interested in,” Lynn said.

He worked for six years in investments, managing money. However, he eventually grew to dislike the profession.

“I became disillusioned with the finance industry, and still am,” Lynn said.

He said he felt that the industry was unfair and slanted against small investors.

“I couldn't go into work every day and be happy about it,” Lynn said.

He took a look at what he wanted to do and decided to go into something related to the human body.

He used to coach high school cross country, and his mother was the director of a school of practical nursing.

Lynn said it was important to him to be able to do something that he really wanted to do.

“I think we sort of owe it to ourselves ... to follow our passions and to do something that we believe in,” Lynn said.

He went back to Kent State, getting a Ph.D. in exercise and physiology in 2000.

Lynn later received a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, working as a researcher for two years.

“It was probably the most mentally stimulating two years of my life,” Lynn said.

As much as he enjoyed the fellowship, Lynn said it became clear that research was not what he wanted to do with his life.

“I thought, ‘I want to work with students,'” Lynn said.

He came to SRU in 2003.

Despite changing fields, Lynn said he feels his business degree still helps.

“Plus, I thought, no matter what you do, it's a business,” Lynn said. “Academics, for better or for worse, it's really having to move toward a business model.”

One thing he likes about working at SRU is the latitude he has to pursue topics of interest.

“I truly have the ability to affect change, positive change,” Lynn said.

When he's not working, Lynn does not stray too far from physical activity.

“I like to run long distance,” Lynn said. “I love being outside; I love being in the woods. Moraine State Park has become my playground.”

He has participated in nearly 30 marathons and five ultramarathons, of which the longest that he completed was 62 miles.

Lynn attempted a 100 mile race, but injured himself at the 72 mile mark and had to drop out.

He has participated in marathons in Chicago, Boston, Long Beach, Calif., and Vancouver, Canada, among other locations.

“It's an interesting way to see a city,” Lynn said.

He said distance running is fun because each runner creates his or her own criteria for winning.

“Distance racing can be a violent sport, but the violence is on the inside. And that becomes the challenge,” Lynn said. “It's not quitting that becomes the victory.”

<b>LYNN FILE</B><B>Name: </B>Jeff Lynn<B>Age:</B> 44<B>Address: </B>Slippery Rock<B>Employment: </B>Associate professor and coordinator of the exercise science program at Slippery Rock University<B>Education:</B> Ph.D. in exercise and physiology from Kent State University, 2000<B>Memberships:</B> The national committee for Exercise is Medicine; chair of the special interest group on endurance athletic science and medicine for the American College of Sports Medicine; chair of the SRU Institutional Review Board‘We feel we need to create a culture that embraces wellness and healthy behavior.'<B>LIFE LESSONS</B>Jeff Lynn, an exercise science professor at Slippery Rock University, offers these tips for improving the quality of life in Butler County:• Think of Butler County as your home• Get outside more often• Support initiatives that improve education• Support Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks• Treat people with respect.<B>ON THE JOB</B><B>Name: </B>Slippery Rock University<B>Address</B>: 1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock, PA 16057<B>President</B>: Acting President Charles Curry<B>Serves</B>: Nearly 9,000 students<B>Employees</B>: 975<B>Contact</B>: 800-778-9111, www.sru.edu/<B>Mission statement</B>: “Rock solid education”<B>BUSINESS INSIGHT</B>Jeff Lynn, an exercise science professor at Slippery Rock University, offers these tips for success in business:• Follow your passion• Be a good teammate• Own your work• Be educated and stay current• Volunteer to take the lead on projects.