Sept. 22, 2004

Contact: Gordon Ovenshine: 724-738-4854; gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY NAMES SRU PHYSICALTHERAPY PROFESSOR SUSAN KUSHNER

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Susan Kushner, associate professor of physical therapy at Slippery Rock University, has been named Volunteer of the Year by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for her 16 years of service to the organization.

She will be inducted into the "Volunteer Hall of Fame" at the society’s leadership conference in Denver in November. 

Kushner has volunteered at the local and national levels, giving speeches, teaching classes and serving on numerous committees.

“I am very honored by this award and hope to continue serving the national Multiple Sclerosis Society and persons with MS for years to come,” she said.

Kushner is the chair of the programs committee and member of the professional education committee for the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  In addition, she has served as a medical staff member for the Jimmie Heuga Center in Edwards, Colo., for 17 years. The nonprofit organization provides health education and five-day wellness workshops for those with multiple sclerosis.

At SRU, which launched the first doctor of physical therapy program in Pennsylvania and third in the country, Kushner incorporates lessons about multiple scleroses in her physical therapy classes. She has been a faculty member and the academic coordinator of clinical education for the Graduate School of Physical Therapy for 13 years.

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