The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) selected MIT assistant volleyball coach Charles Morton '97, PhD '09 for the inaugural Division III Men's Volleyball National Assistant Coach of the Year award. Morton was formally presented the award at the 2010 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, Dec. 16.
Morton recently completed his 11th season as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's varsity volleyball programs. This year, he helped the men's squad reach the 30-win mark for the first time in team history as the Engineers made their second semifinal appearance in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Championship Tournament.
Morton's responsibilities include design and implementation of the strength, conditioning and jump-training programs, recruiting, practice planning, statistical analysis and player development, and — drawing on his familiarity with life as an MIT student — to act as a second academic advisor for the team members. He joined the coaching staff after closing a four-year playing career that saw him rise from reserve middle blocker in 1995 to starter in 1996, and eventually captain and Most Valuable Player in 1998.
Morton graduated from MIT in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and was one of the first students to earn the biomedical engineering minor. Following a two-year stint as an engineering analyst for the Arthur D. Little Corporation, Morton returned to MIT to pursue a PhD program in the Department of Biological Engineering. His thesis work involved studies of the metabolic disposition and biophysical phenomena of developmental drug candidates against prostate cancer. After earning his doctorate in molecular pharmacology and toxicology in the spring of 2009, Morton began a postdoctoral fellowship researching carcinogenesis at the Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston.
Morton recently completed his 11th season as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's varsity volleyball programs. This year, he helped the men's squad reach the 30-win mark for the first time in team history as the Engineers made their second semifinal appearance in the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Championship Tournament.
Morton's responsibilities include design and implementation of the strength, conditioning and jump-training programs, recruiting, practice planning, statistical analysis and player development, and — drawing on his familiarity with life as an MIT student — to act as a second academic advisor for the team members. He joined the coaching staff after closing a four-year playing career that saw him rise from reserve middle blocker in 1995 to starter in 1996, and eventually captain and Most Valuable Player in 1998.
Morton graduated from MIT in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and was one of the first students to earn the biomedical engineering minor. Following a two-year stint as an engineering analyst for the Arthur D. Little Corporation, Morton returned to MIT to pursue a PhD program in the Department of Biological Engineering. His thesis work involved studies of the metabolic disposition and biophysical phenomena of developmental drug candidates against prostate cancer. After earning his doctorate in molecular pharmacology and toxicology in the spring of 2009, Morton began a postdoctoral fellowship researching carcinogenesis at the Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston.
