Laura Lee “Dolly” Swisher was recently awarded the 53rd American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Mary McMillan Lecture Award. The Mary McMillan Lecture is the most distinguished honor an active APTA member physical therapist or life member can receive. This lecture is regarded as one of the keystone events of APTA programming. This award recognizes those who have demonstrated exemplary skills in the areas of administration, education, patient care, management, and research.

This awarded recognizes Dr. Swishers 20+ years of service to USF Health and our School, and most importantly the impact she has had on the physical therapy community. Currently professor emerita, former third Director of the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of South Florida (2018-2020), and also served as Associate Dean in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (2018-2020). Dr. Swisher received a BS from Wilson College, and is a 1986 physical therapy graduate of the University of Tennessee, Memphis. She received the M.Div. from Andover Newton Theological School and a doctoral degree in public administration from Tennessee State University.

She is the author of publications on professionalism, ethics and interprofessional education, and has presented at numerous state, national, and international meetings on physical therapy ethics, professionalism and interprofessional education. Dr. Swisher served as a member and Chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education, is former chair of the APTA Ethics and Judicial Committee, and served as Co-Chair of the Task Force to Revise the Core Ethics Documents. Dr. Swisher serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Physical Therapy Education and was a founding member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation. She is the recipient of the APTA’s Lucy Blair Service Award, and a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA. She has also recently been awarded 2020 recipient of the Polly Cerasoli Lectureship Award by the Academy of Physical Therapy Education (APTE).

To learn more about the APTA Mary McMillan Lecture Award visit: https://www.apta.org/apta-and-you/honors-awards/mary-mcmillan-lecture-award