Training Ground: Mark Kaufman Follows in the Footsteps of UI Mentors
PHOTO: BRIAN RAY/HAWKEYESPORTS.COM
Mark Kaufman (right) honors mentor Ed Crowley with support for athletic training at Iowa.
Mark Kaufman (86BS), a student trainer for the Iowa football team in the 1980s, remembers answering the call when a Hawkeye linebacker suffered a knee injury on a wet practice field in Kinnick Stadium. Head athletic trainer Ed Crowley (69CER) evaluated the student-athlete, but before administering care, he asked Kaufman to drop what he was doing.
“Ed had me come over and walked me through a complete knee evaluation,” says Kaufman. “He went through the entire exam, the history, the mechanical tests, and we discussed next steps.”
Kaufman continued to help the student-athlete during Iowa’s 1985 Big Ten title and Rose Bowl campaign—driving him to the hospital, watching sports medicine orthopedic surgeon John Albright perform surgery, and staying connected to the Hawkeye during rehabilitation.
“I got to see everything—from injury to recovery,” says Kaufman. “Ed could have easily not used that injury as a teaching moment. That was just a reflection of Ed’s leadership. He took the weight of all the injuries on his own shoulders and took the role of getting student-athletes back on the field safely very seriously.”
Overseeing a student-athlete’s recovery was just one of many influential experiences Kaufman had during his time with Iowa’s athletic training program. He credits former UI athletic trainers Crowley, Danny Foster (74BS, 77MA, 96PhD), John Streif (70BS), Faye Thompson (78BS, 80MA, 98MA), Gail Hudash Wadley (77BGS), and Ed Gregori (81CER) for his current success in the field.
“Athletic trainers are often the first people pulling into the parking lot to start the day and the last to leave,” says Kaufman. “At Iowa, you felt important as part of the team—even as a student. Coming to Iowa proved to be one of the best decisions I ever made, because those experiences kickstarted my career and eventually helped me build Athletico Physical Therapy.”
Following his first job at an outpatient facility, Kaufman opened his own clinic in downtown Chicago at just 26 years old. Now, as founder and executive chairman, he helps oversee more than 900 Athletico Physical Therapy locations in 24 states and Washington, D.C.
Grateful for his mentors at Iowa, Kaufman continues to support the program that gave him so much.
“Growing up 38 miles away from Iowa City in Olds, Iowa, I have always been—and will continue to be—a Hawkeye,” says Kaufman, who now lives in Oak Brook, Illinois. “Not a lot of dollars get directed toward athletic trainers and caring for student-athletes, but it’s an important part of the overall experience for each student-athlete. I have a huge amount of respect for the work being done—and that’s why I support it.”
Kaufman and his wife, Mary Ann, whom he met at Iowa, recently made a leadership gift commitment to support the Together Hawkeyes campaign. His support focuses on several initiatives including establishing the Edward T. Crowley Director of Athletic Training Services Fund, which honors his mentor and provides vital resources to the program.
“I wanted to honor Ed Crowley—he was at Iowa for nearly 40 years,” says Kaufman. “I also wanted to honor and recognize the entire athletic training staff at Iowa, past and present, and the student athletic trainer alumni. They all provide such important services as they care for our student-athletes.”