Editor’s note: As part of CSUSB’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the university is showcasing a number of earlier stories highlighting Hispanic and Latino students, alumni, faculty and staff.

This article was originally published on April 5, 2021.

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Associate professor of kinesiology, Guillermo Escalante, is passionate about health and fitness. As a seasoned athlete and current competitive bodybuilder, Escalante grew up wanting to know how to become better physically, recover quickly and excel mentally for optimum athletic performance. His research, focusing on sports nutrition, sports medicine and performance enhancement, has led him to speak at conferences nationally and internationally.

He recently co-authored a study with associate professor Christopher Gentry (Kinesiology), associate professor Jason Ng (Kinesiology), Kinesiology alumnus Rafael Alamilla, and associate professor Eric Vogelsang (Sociology) titled “Weight Discrimination among Students from a Diverse Urban University.” The study examined the association between university students’ weight discrimination and their academic discipline, gender, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, explicit overweight bias, personal body perceptions and their personal experiences with weight loss. In 2020, he also authored and co-authored nine publications related to sports nutrition, sports medicine, body composition assessment and physique enhancement. Two of those publications included CSUSB undergraduate students as co-authors.  

As a professor, Escalante prefers teaching his students with real-life scenarios to bridge the gap between research, practical application and classroom learning. He is a certified athletic trainer, strength and conditioning specialist and sports nutritionist. He also serves as an associate editor for the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, a committee member of the Nutrition, Metabolism, & Body Composition Special Interest Group through the National Strength & Conditioning Association, and the student research papers coordinator for the Western Society of Kinesiology & Wellness.