Steven Blair, PED

Born: 1939

Steve Blair is a pioneer in defining the role of physical fitness and body composition in CVD and Chronic Diseases.

He was educated at Indiana University with post-doctoral studies at Stanford. For many years he directed the research program at the Cooper Institute and held appointments at UT Houston and the University of South Carolina. He is best known for sound data on risk prediction of coronary disease as improved by work capacity measures over activity questionnaires and its independence of overweight, for his findings of the association of fitness and cancer as well as cardiovascular disease, and in women as well as men, and about the role of fitness in maintaining function. Most of his findings come from the immense data base of the Cooper Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS).

Blair made a landmark contribution as senior editor of the 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health and he is currently active in addressing the exercise question of the day: how long, how often, and how intense activity is needed to influence function and long term risk. From his current post at the University of Southern California, he remains central to the efforts of both academic and public policy institutions for health. (HB)