Katherine Taminen 26.12.1982 – 8.2.2026
Professor Katherin Tamminen
(26.12.1982 – 8.2.2026)
The International Society for Sport Psychology mourns the passing of Professor Katherine Tamminen, a deeply respected scholar, educator, leader, and mentor whose contributions to sport and performance psychology have left a lasting impact on the field and the many lives she touched.
Katherine served as Full Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate Education, in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto, where she founded and directed the Sport and Performance Psychology Lab and worked as a registered psychotherapist. She joined the University of Toronto in 2013 following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia and earned her PhD from the University of Alberta in 2011. Her doctoral work on stress management among adolescent athletes laid the foundation for a research career dedicated to understanding stress, coping, emotion, and mental health in youth sport.
Her work was supported by funding from the University of Toronto Connaught Fund and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and she led influential research initiatives that have informed both scholarship and practice internationally.
Dr. Tamminen was widely recognized for her expertise in qualitative research methods and for advancing rigorous, reflexive, and transparent approaches to qualitative and open science practices in sport psychology. Her work helped bring athletes’ lived experiences to the forefront and broadened how the field understands development, performance, and well-being.
She was an exceptional teacher and mentor, deeply committed to supporting the academic, professional, and personal development of students and colleagues. Her leadership was grounded in service, integrity, and collaboration, and she was known for her generosity, intellectual rigor, and genuine care for others.
Dr. Tamminen also served the scholarly community in numerous leadership roles, including Editor-in-Chief of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (2020–2022), and Member-at-Large of the International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise.
Her mentorship, scholarship, and generosity of spirit leave a lasting legacy within the global sport psychology community and among the many students, colleagues, and athletes whose lives she enriched. She will be profoundly missed.
The International Society for Sport Psychology extends its deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and her husband during this difficult time.
By Chris Wagstaff, PhD
Some memories of Katherine from colleagues
Erica Bennett, PhD
Chad M. Danyluck, PhD
Jeemin Kim, PhD
Patrick Gaudreau, PhD