Mary Fry

Dir., Kansas Univ. Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab

National Advisory Board

Mary Fry is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Kansas. She is the Director of the KU Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab and oversees the graduate program in the area. Mary started her career as a high school tennis coach and physical education teacher in Texas. She received her PhD in sport psychology from Purdue University, and has spent the years since studying motivation. Specifically, Mary has investigated the benefits of coaches and teachers creating caring and supportive environments in sport and exercise settings that help individuals gauge success based on their personal effort and improvement, and cooperation with others. Mary is a National Advisory Board member for the Positive Coaching Alliance, and served on the executive board of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action and on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, and the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. She is the Co-Founder and Director of Strong Girls, an after-school physical activity/positive youth development program where adolescent females are paired with college female student mentors. Mary and her husband, Andy, are empty-nesters and live in Lawrence, KS with a host of pets.