Mary McMillan Lecture Award

Physical Therapy, Oct, 2008

Mary "Mollie" McMillan (1880-1959) is remembered as one of the pioneers of our profession and as the founding president of the American Physical Therapy Association. Born in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, she grew up and was educated in England, where she decided on a career in physical therapy. As the first physical therapy aide to be sworn into service in World War I, she supervised the training of reconstruction aides and came to be known as "The Mother of Physical Therapy" in the US Army. Mary McMillan organized one of the first courses in physical therapy in this country at Reed College in Oregon, and she established the first physical therapy training center in China at Peiping Union Medical College. Her book, Massage and Therapeutic Exercise, was the first comprehensive text on physical therapy written by an American physical therapist. During World War II, she treated prisoners of war while enduring the rigors of Japanese internment camps in Manila and Shanghai.

Not only did McMillan devote her life to furthering the profession, but she bequeathed a large part of her estate to its future, providing for the establishment of scholarship funds for students in the field of physical therapy. McMillan's selfless devotion to the profession has served as the inspiration for generations of physical therapists, and the ideals and standards she envisioned at the founding of the Association are still the goals we seek today.

The Mary McMillan Lecture Award, established by APTA's Board of Directors in 1963 to pay tribute to McMillan, acknowledges and honors an APTA member who has made a distinguished contribution to the profession. The award provides an opportunity for the recipient to share his or her achievements and ideas with the membership through a special lecture at the APTA Annual Conference. Nominations for the award may be submitted by individual members and components of the Association. Recipients of the award are recommended by the Mary McMillan Lecture Subcommittee of the APTA Awards Committee and are selected by APTA's Board of Directors.

Recipients

Mildred O Elson, PT                          1964
Catherine A Worthingham, PT, PhD, FAPTA      1965
Ruby Decker, PT                              1966
Col Emma E Vogel, PT                         1967
Helen Kaiser, PT                             1968
Margaret Rood, PT                            1969
None                                         1970
Lucy Blair, PT                               1971
Margaret Knott, PT                           1972
Lucille Daniels, PT                          1973
None                                         1974
Helen J Hislop, PT, PhD, FAPTA               1975
E Jane Carlin, PT, DSc, FAPTA                1976
Mary Clyde Singleton, PT, PhD                1977
Margaret L Moore, PT, EdD, FAPTA             1978
Helen Blood, PT, EdD, FAPTA                  1979
Florence P Kendall, PT, FAPTA                1980
Susanne Hirt, PT, MS                         1981
Dorothy E Voss, PT                           1982
Nancy T Watts, PT, PhD, FAPTA                1983
Eugene Michels, PT, FAPTA                    1984
Geneva R Johnson, PT, PhD, FAPTA             1985
Dorothy Pinkston, PT, PhD, FAPTA             1986
Charles M Magistro, PT, FAPTA                1987
None                                         1988
Ruth Wood, PT, FAPTA                         1989
L Don Lehmkuhl, PT, PhD, FAPTA               1990
Robert C Bartlett, PT, MA,                   1991
Marylou R Barnes, PT, EdD, FAPTA             1992
Gary L Soderberg, PT, PhD, FAPTA             1993
None                                         1994
None                                         1995
Bella J May, PT, EdD, FAPTA                  1996
None                                         1997
Shirley A Sahrmann, PT, PhD, FAPTA           1998
Suzann K Campbell, PT, PhD, FAPTA            1999
Ruth B Purtilo, PT, PhD, FAPTA               2000
Jules M Rothstein, PT, PhD, FAPTA            2001
Steven L Wolf, PT, PhD, FAPTA                2002
Pamela W Duncan, PT, PhD, FAPTA              2003
Marilyn Moffat, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA, CSCS    2004
Rebecca L Craik, PT, PhD, FAPTA              2005
Stanley V Paris, PT, PhD, FAPTA              2006
Katherine F Shepard, PT, PhD, FAPTA          2007
Anthony Delitto, PT, PhD, FAPTA              2008