Kitty Consolo, Ph.D.

Consolo spends her days teaching health, fitness, wellness, and exercise science classes at Ohio University’s Zanesville campus. She also competed in the 1990 Senior Olympics, running the 10,000 meter event. Amazingly, she did so after being severely injured in a bad fall and needing physical therapy.

Being an example of what she teaches makes a difference in her impact and the educational understanding of her students. When students get discouraged, Consolo’s personal comeback story is a meaningful tool to help inspire students to keep going with their own exercise regimes and to increase their understanding of key health and exercise science concepts taught in the classes.

“My classes, you can use forever,” Consolo said. “Exercise has so many benefits for your entire life. What I teach is livable and can save students’ lives. It can help prevent cancer and heart attacks. I’m not just doing something for my students’ brains, I’m helping them improve their own lives.”

Consolo became interested in exercise in college because she loved to eat. She tried out for and made the men’s cross country team at Wake Forest University. Running allowed her to do what she loved – eat – it led her to a long-term passion – connecting people to exercise.

“There is a lot of misunderstanding about the benefits of exercise because people think it should be painful,” she explained.

Before coming to Ohio University, Consolo taught at Ohio State University’s Newark campus, Ashland University, Denison University, Cuyahoga Community College, Baldwin-Wallace College, the University of Akron, Kent State University, and Cleveland State University. She is an American Heart First Aid and CPR instructor and is a personal trainer and coach to her own clients. She’s taught numerous seminars and workshops and is extensively published in peer-reviewed publications, such as  Future Focus Journal,  Teaching and Learning in Nursing, and the  Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. 

Consolo earned a doctorate’s degree specializing in exercise science and a master’s degree specializing in exercise from Kent State University. In Spring 2022, she was awarded the outstanding Professor award at Ohio University Zanesville. 

She currently is an elite senior runner, usually winning the 60+ age group in running races. In the last few years, she has also had a lot of expertise in helping create student retention, success and community in the zoom/virtual classroom.