Dunedin occupational therapist scoops award

Media release from Otago Polytechnic

26 August 2009

Dunedin occupational therapist scoops Fulbright award

Dr Linda Wilson has become New Zealand’s first ever occupational therapist to be awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship.

Dr Wilson, the Principal Lecturer of the School of Occupational Therapy at Otago Polytechnic, is one of eight Fulbright New Zealand Senior Scholar Award recipients this year and the only one of those eight to be chosen from the polytechnic sector.

The US$11,750 (NZ$17,000) research grant will pay for a three-month sabbatical to the United States this October where Dr Wilson will further her study of occupational therapy.

Dr Wilson says the scholarship is “a once in a lifetime opportunity”.

“I’m absolutely chuffed.  It’s a lovely affirmation for me personally as well as for Otago Polytechnic’s School of Occupational Therapy, the wider polytechnic sector and my sister departments in universities around the world,” she says.

Dr Wilson grew up in Lower Hutt and has practiced occupational therapy in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.  She completed her doctorate in 2004 and was one of the first 10 New Zealand therapists to complete a doctorate. 

During her 40-year career Dr Wilson has been active in practice, management, education and in professional bodies in New Zealand.  She has represented New Zealand at the World Federation of Occupational Therapists and served as the educator representative on the New Zealand Occupational Therapy Registration Board.  In 1996 she also received the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists’ prestigious Frances Rutherford Lecture Award for her contribution to the profession through service, education and research.

Dr Wilson set up the Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy in 1990 and has been instrumental in increasing the academic focus and career options for occupational therapists.  In the past 19 years she has overseen the movement of study from a diploma to a bachelor’s degree, the introduction of an honours stream, and the school develop a post-graduate diploma and masters by distance education.

She is now involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research.  She also chairs the institutional research ethics committee and contributes to the institutional staff education and development programmes related to Treaty Education.

While in the US, Dr Wilson will divide her time between the University of New Hampshire in Durham and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.  She will also present at a specialist conference in New Haven, Connecticut.

“During my three-month stay I’ll do some teaching, work on developing a new 14-week online postgraduate course for Otago Polytechnic and progress some of my research.

“The Fulbright scholarship is a chance for me to break new ground for occupational therapy and hopefully open doors for others in years to come.  I’ll also be working hard to build closer ties with my peers and encourage them to come to New Zealand to share their knowledge,” she says.

Otago Polytechnic CEO Phil Ker says the staff and students are absolutely delighted that Dr Wilson’s hard work and skill has been rewarded.

“This is fantastic recognition for Linda and a real testimony to her work over the years,” he says.

Dr Wilson will be officially awarded her Fulbright New Zealand Senior Scholar Award in June 2010 at a Parliamentary awards ceremony.  The ceremony will be hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held at the Beehive in Wellington.

ENDS

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