GALVESTON, Texas - Elizabeth J. Protas, has been selected as the 2008 Catherine Worthingham Fellow by the American Physical Therapy Association.
Protas, who is interim dean of the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Allied Health Sciences, will be honored at the June meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association in San Antonio. Fewer than 100 of the association's 65,000 members serve as Worthingham fellows. It is considered the most prestigious recognition granted by the organization.
"This is an extraordinary honor for me," Protas said. "It reflects more on the quality of the faculty, colleagues and students with whom I have had the opportunity to work."
The fellowship is named for Catherine Worthingham who was the first physical therapist to earn a doctoral degree and who served for decades on the APTA board. It recognizes individuals whose work has resulted in lasting and significant advances in the science and practice of physical therapy.
Protas holds the Ruby Decker Endowed Professor in Physical Therapy and is a senior fellow at the Sealy Center on Aging. She holds a Ph.D. in education and a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is the most recent recipient of the Herbert H deVries Award for Distinguished Research in Aging.