Deborah Givens Receives Honor as Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Assoc

Deborah Givens, director of the Division of Physical Therapy in the Department of Allied Health Sciences (DAHS), has been named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

The Catherine Worthingham Fellow is the association's highest membership category and serves as inspiration for all physical therapists to attain a high level of professional excellence and advance the profession. This honor is eligible to APTA physical therapist members who have, “demonstrated unwavering efforts to advance the physical therapy profession for more than 15 years.”

Givens previously led the physical therapy programs at Creighton University and Ohio State University before becoming the UNC division director in 2015.

Givens taught in PT programs for over 30 years and has been recognized for her contributions to the profession with honors since 2002. Givens’ excellence in education was illustrated through her work in developing centralized models for Residency Administration and Curricular Common Core Modules. She is credited for 29 peer-reviewed publications since 2021.