Braving New Worlds: To Conquer, to Endure

Marilyn Moffat, PT, PhD, FAPTA, CSCSDr Moffat has had a tremendous impact on the physical therapy profession as a visionary leader, a distinguished educator, and an accomplished clinician, administrator, and researcher. She has served as editor of Physical Therapy and, as an elected member of APTA's House of Delegates, has been instrumental in providing direction for the future of the profession. She has served as a member of innumerable committees, task forces, and boards of directors at every level within the Association. In 1991, she was elected President of APTA for the first of 2 consecutive terms.As President, Dr Moffat spearheaded the development of the Association's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, and she later served as a project editor of the Guide's second edition and was heavily involved in the development of the Interactive Guide on CD-ROM. Dr Moffat has worked tirelessly since 1977, when she first spoke about the professional doctoral degree for physical therapists, to lead the profession through a process of redefining the role of the physical therapist for the future and ensuring that the highest level of practice would be achieved as a requisite for assuming the title “Doctor of Physical Therapy.”As a delegate to the World Confederation for Physical Therapy, Dr Moffat has provided leadership to the international community of physical therapists. She served as APTA's voting delegate to the WCPT General Meeting, on the Executive Committee of the WCPT as the North America/Caribbean Region representative, and as a member of the Task Force on the International Definition of Physical Therapy. Dr Moffat has given more than 800 professional presentations worldwide and has taught and consulted in Taiwan, Thailand, Burma, Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Wuhan in China. For her demonstrated worldwide leadership in physical therapy, she was honored with WCPT's Mildred Elson Award for International Leadership in Physical Therapy.Dr Moffat has been the recipient of many APTA honors and awards. She has been recognized with APTA's Lucy Blair Service Award and as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow. She has received 2 diversity awards from the Advisory Panel on Minority Affairs, the R Charles Harker Policy Maker Award from APTA's Health Policy and Administration Section, and the Robert Dicus Outstanding Service Award from APTA's Private Practice Section. The most significant acknowledgments of her lifelong commitment to service are the New York Chapter's Dr Marilyn Moffat Distinguished Service Award and APTA's newly created Marilyn Moffat Leadership Award.