Marcel earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology with a specialization in social psychology at the University of Louisville in 1999. He later re-specialized into sports psychology and is a certified mental performance consultant administered by the Association of Applied Sports Psychology.
Marcel is a professor in the Exercise Science program in the School of Health Sciences. He earned his undergraduate degree at Goshen College (1992; IN), master's degree at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (1995), and his doctorate at the University of Louisville (1999; KY). He has served as the campus faculty athletics representative since 2004 and earned the Dave Pariser Faculty Mentor award from the NCAA in 2017. He has published and presented in the areas of teaching and learning, social psychology, and sports psychology. His teaching interests focus on psychology, sports, and mental health.
Marcel enjoys supervising student-led research that looks at the effect that therapy dogs have on children's cognitive and motor performance and the relationship between sleep and athletic performance.
Marcel has published in the area of self-enhancement bias and high-impact teaching and learning strategies.
Marcel serves as the campus faculty athletic representative.
Marcel's current teaching includes: EXR 201: Introduction to Excercise Science, EXR 341: Sport and Society, EXR 363: Exercise and Sport Psychology, & EXR 480: Motivation