Category: Kinesiology & Applied Physiology
Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology welcomes new faculty
August 25, 2026 Written by Amy Cherry | Photo by Evan Krape
The Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology (KAAP) welcomed several new faculty members for the 2026-27 school year. Learn more about them and what inspired them to pursue careers in academia.
Russell Johnson
Assistant Professor
What are you teaching this fall?
Biomechanics I - KAAP 426
Where did you previously work?
I was an assistant professor at Northwestern University in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
What inspired you to work in academia?
I love that we get paid to learn new things and share them with others.
What drew you to the University of Delaware?
I was drawn to UD for its strong history of gait and rehabilitation research, and I hope to contribute to this work.
What are you most looking forward to in your new position?
Working with great collaborators to pursue interesting research projects
Tell us about your research program and how it became your passion.
My research focuses on how people post-stroke walk and how changes to their neuromuscular system impact their mobility. There are many aspects of this research that I am passionate about, but speaking with stroke survivors about their mobility challenges is always motivating.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Having a career that has allowed me to live in many different areas of the U.S and work with interesting and talented people from all over the world.
What do you hope your students learn from you, and what have you learned from your students over the years?
The most important thing I hope to help students learn is how to solve larger, difficult problems by breaking them into smaller problems. But more specifically, I hope students learn that force is usually proportional to acceleration unless you are dealing with rocket science.
My students have taught me how to see familiar topics through fresh eyes. Their questions often connect biomechanics concepts to experiences and challenges outside my own background, prompting me to consider new applications and perspectives.
What do you like to do for fun?
Playing chess, cycling and watching soccer (I'm a Tottenham Hotspur fan!)
Bernadette Perchalski
Assistant professor
What are you teaching this fall?
KAAP 641 - Human Embryology and KAAP 634 - Gross Anatomy II
Where did you previously work?
Prior to starting at UD, I was an assistant professor of physiology and anatomy at UNT Health in Fort Worth, TX.
What inspired you to work in academia?
I've always loved school, so teaching in higher ed felt like a great fit.
What drew you to the University of Delaware?
I'm from the Northeast originally and was very happy to return to this region. Everyone I know who has been a student at UD has loved it.
What are you most looking forward to in your new position?
I'm looking forward to returning to teaching face-to-face in the classroom; in my last position, most of my teaching was online or in the anatomy lab.
Tell us about your research program and how it became your passion.
I am a continuing track faculty member, so I do not have an active research program; however, I collaborate with colleagues on research on primate arboreal locomotion. For my dissertation, I conducted experimental research on gait biomechanics in several lemur species at the Duke Lemur Center.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Finishing my Ph.D.
What do you hope your students learn from you, and what have you learned from your students over the years?
I hope my students learn that it's OK that they might find anatomy hard; the body is very complex!
I love hearing my students share their tips and tricks for memorizing different content (e.g., mnemonics for nerves).
What do you like to do for fun?
I like taking my dog and my toddler on walks.
