The Emory University School of Medicine Doctor of Physical Therapy Program Diploma Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 2:30 pm at The Glenn Memorial Auditorium. Graduating students, family and friends will have an opportunity to share in the activities via a live (and on-demand) webcast of the ceremony. The link to view the ceremony will be shared with graduating students closer to the event date.
The Diploma Ceremony will feature remarks by Associate Interim Director of The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, Dr. Kathleen Geist and Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Interim Chairman Dr. George Fulk. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Steve Wolf, CEO of Wolf Rehabilitation Initiatives, LLC, and Emeritus Professor, Division of Physical Therapy. Graduating students attending in-person and virtually will be individually recognized during the diploma ceremony.
Email Ella Pollard with any questions.
Doctor of Physical Therapy Diploma Ceremony Keynote Speaker: Dr. Steve Wolf
Steve Wolf has been a physical therapist for 57 years. His primary interests have been in researching ways to improve movement capabilities in aging and neurological populations. Until recently, he also spent considerable time in evaluating and treating patients diagnosed with stroke. He has been past vice president of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia and recipient of its Merit Award. While he has received numerous awards, those most relevant to the APTA include: The Golden Pen Award, Lucy Blair Service Award and The Helen J. Hislop Award for Outstanding Contributions to Literature. He has been a Catherine Worthingham Fellow since 1987 and was our 2002 Mary McMillan Lecturer.
Dr. Wolf’s contributions to our profession include establishing the inclusion criteria for forced use of the upper extremity following stroke and contributing to the formulation of what later became known as constraint induced movement therapy, establishing Tai Chi as a falls’ prevention exercise for older adults and helping to establish what is today known as the FiRST (Frontiers in Rehabilitation Science and Technology) Council of the APTA.
Considered by some to be a bit of a visionary, he has received over 50 honors from multiple professional organizations, authored or co-authored over 300 refereed articles, edited nine books, procured over $80M in grant funding and provided over 900 national and international lectures. He retired recently but remains active with funding from the NIH NINDS and established Wolf Rehabilitation Initiatives, LLC, designed to assist individuals, groups and organizations in transforming creative ideas into realities. He is now also fulfilling a long-time dream of becoming a novelist.