Barbara McCahan
About Barbara McCahan
Barbara McCahan Ph.D., Director of the Center for Active Living and Healthy Communities and Professor of Health Education and Promotion, brings an educational background in biological sciences together with extensive experience in health and physical activity leadership and promotion. Her teaching and scholarship focus on the personal, social and cultural influences that impact health across the lifespan.
Dr. McCahan earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Biological Sciences, specializing in cell biology, biochemistry and ultrastructure followed by a post-doctoral research associate position in Immunopathology at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver and as a teaching/research associate in reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. She was first certified as a Group Exercise Instructor in 1985 by the American Council on Exercise and has also been certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health-fitness Instructor with specialization in Older Adults Exercise. She worked in the field of physical activity leadership during her time in Hawaii and developed a career in health and fitness promotion which then extended into higher education. Most recently she was awarded the Anne Seeley Scholarship for training in Physical Activity in Public Health – Community Outreach sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
A Plymouth State faculty member since 1989, Dr. McCahan serves as a Professor in the Health and Human Enrichment Cluster and teaches courses for Health Education and Promotion graduate program. Her courses focus on physical activity and health, program planning and evaluation and lifespan health promotion. She also serves the regional community as a mentor and Board member for the Circle Program in Plymouth and as a Corporator for the Bank of NH.
Continuing as a group exercise leader, consultant, swimmer, hiker, cyclist and Nordic skier, she resides in Plymouth, NH with her husband Ted McCahan.
