Dr. Drew Van Dam, Ed.D.

Dr. Drew Van Dam is an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education (DPE) at the United States Military Academy (USMA). He is also the DPE director of guidance and testing.

Hailing from Rumson, New Jersey, he graduated from Springfield College with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training in 2000 and immediately went to Ohio University to earn his master’s degree in athletic training, graduating in the summer of 2001.

Upon graduating, Dr. Van Dam began his professional athletic training career with the Atlanta Braves, where he spent the next seven years in their professional minor league system, moving up the ranks to AA, where he finished as the assistant minor league medical coordinator overseeing the Dominican Summer League, Gulf Coast League, and Appalachian League athletic trainers. 

In 2008, Dr. Van Dam moved to the Kansas City Royals as head athletic trainer at their AAA level in Omaha, Nebraska. He was tasked with the medical care for all AAA players as well as any individuals on rehabilitation stints from the major league club.

In 2010, he transitioned out of professional baseball to become an assistant athletic trainer/instructor for USMA's DPE. In 2016, he was promoted to full-time instructor, moving out of the athletic training room to take on a greater course load as well as to become the head regimental guidance officer. In 2019, Dr. Van Dam earned his terminal degree, a doctorate in educational leadership, from Liberty University. In 2024, he transitioned into the role of director of guidance and testing.

He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Guidance and Testing Office, which includes program supervision, daily mentoring to the Corps of Cadets from office personnel, as well as the supervision of effective testing procedures for the Corps of Cadets as it relates to the physical program.

Over the course of his time at West Point, Van Dam has earned his MAC-P Basic and Tactical Combatives certifications (formerly Levels I and II). He presents at local and national medical and educational conferences, serves as an officer representative to the Army baseball team - where he was asked to be a volunteer coach during the 2019 NCAA tournament, lectures for the kinesiology program and the Army-Baylor Sports Medicine Program, serves on a number of DPE and USMA committees, and was the 2022 Mike Krzyzewski Award winner for Excellence in Teaching Character Through Sport as a company athletics sport educator.

He is married to Stacy Van Dam and has three children: two boys and a girl.