About Us

K. Jason Crandall, Ph.D.

Creator / Founder

Dr. Crandall is currently a professor at Western Kentucky University. When not working on Bingocize®, he conducts research, and teaches undergraduate courses in Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences. He is also the Co-Director of the WKU Center for Applied Science in Health & Aging.

Kristeen Owens

Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Since joining Bingocize® in 2019, Kristeen has been a driving force as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. With a Master of Arts in Communication from Western Kentucky University, Kristeen excels at building lasting connections with Bingocize® partners.

Her passion lies in helping organizations introduce an engaging, impactful program that enhances the quality of life for older adults and individuals with disabilities—not just across the U.S., but around the globe.

The Birth of Bingocize®

Dr. Jason Crandall describes the creation of Bingocize® as "serendipitous."

"It was 2011 and I was a professor at a small liberal arts college in my hometown, trying to provide service-learning opportunities for my Exercise Science students. I sent a group to a local independent living senior facility across the street from the college. My students put a lot of effort into designing and advertising the program, but when the first day rolled around, no one showed up to the session. After discussing with the students, we concluded it was because everyone was down the hall playing Bingo."

And that's when the name hit him. Bingocize®. From there, he created a program that combined exercise and Bingo, and after marketing the new program (with its snazzy new name), "15 people showed up for the students. I quickly realized I had something, so I applied for a small grant from our local hospital to collect some data and published the positive results."

Dr. Crandall continued to fine-tune the program until he began a position at Western Kentucky University in 2013, giving him more access to resources and external funding. This included an NIH R15 award, allowing him to establish an evidence base for his program.

In the meantime, Dr. Crandall, "created a web-based application to deliver the content via electronic devices. In 2018, Bingocize® was approved as an evidence-based falls prevention program by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), and then in 2019, it was approved as an obesity prevention program for inclusion in the USDA’s SNAP-Ed Toolkit. Since these approvals, Bingocize® has steadily grown and is now in 47 states and four foreign countries."

While Bingocize® workshops continue to evolve, the original goals remain the same: learn, move your body, and play some Bingo!