On the eve before Hurricane Isabel blew into the Washington DC metro area on Sept. 18, 2003, GWU students, faculty, staff, and administrators gathered at an open house to celebrate Exercise Science's new Departmental status.

The atmosphere's shifting environment was appropriate for a department devoted to the study and education of physical activity - a department that has shifted its location at GWU several times.

The roots of Exercise Science at GW date back to the early 1900s, when the University maintained separate men's and women's Physical Education departments. Coincidentally, the women's department was housed in Building K, a deconsecrated church that is the Department's location today.

Some form of Exercise Science studies weathered multiple name and curriculum changes during the century-long journey to department status:

• In 1968, the sex-segregated Physical Education departments were united within the School of Education, where students could earn bachelor's and master's degrees.
• In 1970, the Department of Physical Education became part of the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. Adaptive Physical Education was added to the graduate curriculum.
• In 1978 the Physical Education major was dropped, and the department name was changed to Human Kinetics & Leisure Studies (HKLS). The B.S. and M.S. degree programs were part of Human Kinetics, and Tourism Administration and Therapeutic Recreation Programs were part of Leisure Studies. Students could earn a degree in Exercise & Sport or a master's in Exercise Science geared to physical therapists.
• In 1995, the School of Education and Human Development became a graduate school only. The Exercise Science Programs moved to the Medical Center, and the Tourism program was shifted into the Business School.
• In 1997, Exercise Science found its current home with the inception of the School of Public Health & Health Services. The programs offered one M.S. degree and one B.S. degree with four areas of concentration: Athletic Training, Exercise and Sport, Health and Fitness, and Pre-Health Professional.