Jim Penkalski was named director of Missouri State Athletic Medical and Rehabilitation Services in 2009 after serving serving as an assistant athletic trainer at MSU since 1990. He added the title of Assistant Director of Athletics for Student Athlete Health and Wellness in July 2023.
As the director of the Athletic Medical and Rehabilitation department, Penkalski oversees a staff of seven full-time certified athletic trainers, as well as athletic training interns, graduate assistants and students. He serves as both the HIPAA compliance officer for intercollegiate athletics and MSU's designated Athletics Health Care Administrator for the NCAA. Penkalski also serves as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference Sports Medicine Committee and was on the MVC Covid focus ad hoc working group.
Penkalski also works as primary athletic trainer for baseball, a role he as filled since his arrival at MSU. During his tenure with the Bears, he has performed the same role with several additional sports, including wrestling and men’s basketball.
A 1987 graduate of Kent State University, Penkalski completed his master’s degree from Northern Michigan before joining the MSU staff in 1990. Penkalski’s wife, Missy, is employed at MSU as the graduate program director for the MSU School of Nursing, having graduated with her doctorate from that same program in 2014. They have four children, Amanda, Katelyn, Russell and Tessa.
