Roger Enoka was born in Palmerston North, and completed his DipPhEd at Otago in 1970. After completing his DipTeaching at Christchurch Teachers' College and teaching at Rongotai College until 1974, he travelled to the United States for postgraduate work and completed an MS in Biomechanics in 1976 and a PhD in Kinesiology in 1981 at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Dr Enoka rose to the rank of Professor in the Department of Exercise Science and in the Department of Physiology at the University of Arizona in 1992. After three years in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, he was appointed as a Professor at the University of Colorado, and is now Professor and Chair in the Department of Integrative Physiology and an Adjoint Professor in the College of Medicine.
Professor Enoka's highly regarded textbook, the Neuromechanics of Human Movement is now in its fourth edition, and he has published numerous book chapters in addition to over 150 articles in refereed journals. His research is supported by awards from the National Institutes of Health in the USA and focuses on the function of the neuromuscular system in health and disease.