Professor Oded Bar-Or (1937 - 2005)

Professor Oded Bar-Or was born on 28 August 1937 in Jerusalem. He completed his medical studies at the Hadassah Medical School Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1963 and two years later he was conferred the title of doctor of medicine. In 1965 he left for the USA where he took up the position of research associate at the University of Pennsylvania and later as an assistant professor in the field of applied physiology. In 1969 he returned to Israel and became scientific director at the Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport, where he worked until 1981. Later he left for Canada and took up the position of professor of paediatrics as well as director of the Children's Exercise and Nutrition Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, where he has been working until the present time. Prof. Oded Bar-Or is considered one of the most outstanding experts in paediatric exercise medicine. His scientific output is impressive because of its fundamental cognitive and practical importance for the exercise and developmental physiology, sport's medicine, psychology and sports for the disabled. Professor O.Bar-Or is the author of 171 scientific works published in full in scientific journals. These include 139 original papers and 32 case demonstrative. The majority of his articles have been published in prestigious international journals, known for their high substantial requirements. Prof. O. Bar-Or is also the author of: 10 monographs, 36 chapters in books, 44 papers published in conference and symposia materials, 142 communiques published in forms of abstracts, 25 non reviewed papers published in professional and popular-scientific journals as well as 6 reports which have not been published. Prof. O. Bar-Or earned most of his fame by the elaboration of the cyclo-ergometric test used for assessing anaerobic efforts in adults and children, which is commonly known as the Wingate test or Bar-Or test. There is no laboratory in the world nowadays which would not use the above mentioned test. In recognition of his great knowledge, professional skills and personal features, Prof. O. Bar-Or has been elected to many prestigious functions in various scientific associations (among many others: President of Canadian Association of Sports Sciences, Vice President of American College of Sports Medicine) and invited to editorial boards of numerous scientific journals as well as to scientific committees of the most important international meetings for sport physicians, physiologists and paediatricians. For his scientific achievements and the broad scope of his professional activities he was awarded, among others, the following distinctions : Citation Award by the American College of Sport Medicine and Honorary Award by the North American Society for Paediatric Exercise Medicine, Honorary Award from Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, Thomas E.Shaffer Award from the American Academy of Paediatrics, Honorary Memberships of Hungarian Sport Science Society, Belgian-Flemish Society of Sport Medicine and Israel Sports Medicine Society , as well as a doctor's degree of honour by the University of Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France and by the Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Prof. O. Bar -Or has maintained frequent contacts with Polish scientific centres and on 2 occasions participated in the meetings of the Polish Association of Sports Medicine.