Professor Julie Ann Starr Receives APTA’s Highest Honor

Julie Ann Starr, PT, DPT, FAPTA, CCS, has been named a 2019 Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Starr is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training.

The Catherine Worthingham Fellowship (FAPTA) honors APTA members who have demonstrated unwavering efforts to advance the physical therapy profession for more than 15 years. The FAPTA designation is the highest honor bestowed by the APTA.

Starr’s scholarly and practice interests include acute care physical therapy, physical therapy care for people with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease, and empathy in physical therapy.

For more than three decades, Starr has advanced the education and practice of cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy, leading the establishment of standards for advanced and specialized practice in cardiopulmonary care.

“Dr. Starr is highly respected by our faculty, her peers, and colleagues, not just for
her educational practice, advocacy and accomplishments, but even more importantly for her passion for the profession, commitment to excellence, and support of her students,” said Department Chair and Travis M. Roy Professor LaDora Thompson. “She is admired by students and colleagues alike as an exceptional human being, who has left an indelible legacy on the profession of physical therapy and physical therapy education.”

Starr has published in leading textbooks and journals in the area of cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy. She was previously honored by the APTA in 2015, selected for the prestigious Linda Crane Memorial Lecture Award.

Fellows will be honored at a ceremony during APTA’s NEXT conference in Chicago this June.