Program Faculty

Kenneth Harrington McKeever, Ph.D., FACSM, FAPS, FESS:  received his B.S. degree and M.S. degrees in Animal Science from Cal Poly Pomona and Fresno State University.   Following completion of his MS he worked as the Assistant Manager of Post-Time Thoroughbred Ranch in Tulare, California.  McKeever earned his Ph.D. in Animal Physiology at the University of Arizona where he also managed the University Horse Center and Quarter Horse breeding program.  Upon completing his Ph.D. McKeever served for two years as a National Academies of Sciences-National Research Council Resident Research Associate at the NASA Ames Research Center in California.   From 1987-1994 Dr. McKeever developed and coordinated research at the Equine Exercise Physiology Laboratory at Ohio State University.   In 1995 he joined the Faculty in the Department of Animal Sciences at Rutgers University and proceeded to build, develop, and coordinate one of the most active Equine Exercise Physiology laboratories in the USA.  Dr. McKeever earned the rank of Full Professor in 2009 and currently serves as Associate Director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center.  He is a past President of the Equine Science Society as well as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Comparative Exercise Physiology.  On a basic level his research has focused on comparative exercise and cardiovascular physiology with a particular interest in the effects of aging on the integration of the cardiovascular, renal, and endocrine systems in the control of blood pressure, blood volume and fluid and electrolyte balance. On an applied level, his research has focused on the effects of performance enhancing practices on the physiological responses of the equine athlete.  These studies are just part of the more than 220 book chapters, journal articles and proceedings papers, and more than 70 abstracts that have advanced our understanding of the athletic horse.  Dr. McKeever is the first scientist to be named a Fellow of the American College Sports Medicine for work with horses and he is the first and only Equine Physiologist named a Fellow by the American Physiological Society.  McKeever is also a Fellow of the Equine Science Society as well as recipient of that society’s highest award, the Distinguished Service Award. In his spare time, McKeever plays masters water polo goalie at the local, national, and international level.  He is also an amateur genealogist and historian and is a member of the Descendants of the Founders of New Jersey, the Sons of the American Revolution, Society of the War of 1812, Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, Society of Mayflower Descendants, Sons of the Revolution, the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, the Society of Colonial, the Order of Founders and Patriots, and the Jamestowne Society.

Publications