On October 9, we will welcome to Gilman former Harvard football player turned WWE professional wrestler Chris Nowinski, now a nationally-known advocate for concussion awareness, prevention, and research in athletes.

He will talk with students, coaches, and trainers during the day, and give a talk to the community that night at 7 p.m. in Alumni Auditorium. (RSVP here)

Nowinski is a major voice in the national conversation on what he calls the "concussion crisis." He's been featured in 

The New York Times, Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker,

 and has been the subject of many broadcast profiles, including on ESPN, CNN, ABC’s 

Nightline

, PBS/FRONTLINE, and HBO’s 

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel

.

Nowinski's personal experience with brain trauma forced him to retire from WWE and led him to write the critically acclaimed book 

Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis

 in 2006, which was adapted for the documentary film 

Head Games.

Take a look at the trailer. The film "exposes a problem that has undeniably become a silent epidemic on a global scale."

[vimeo 84435946 w=500 h=281]

Head Games: The Global Concussion Crisis (2014) Trailer from Head Games The Film on Vimeo.

Please, come be a part of this important conversation on October 9.