Department Chair of Allied Health

Physical Therapist Assistant Program Director

Associate Professor

Pediatric Physical Therapist

It has been my pleasure to be the program director of the MSC PTA program since its beginning.  The program has made many changes over the years. It has been great to see so many wonderful students graduate and join the physical therapy profession.     

I have a wonderful wife, a great daughter, two super sons, and a pretty smart weenie dog.  I love spending time with my family.  I grew up right here in Tishomingo, attended Murray State College and then graduated from East Central University in Ada.  After that I went to University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center for my physical therapy education and began my career as a physical therapist in 1983.  I have enjoyed this profession very much and am very grateful to the many excellent clinical role models I have admired over the years.  I have been blessed to work in a variety of areas of physical therapy, but became very interested in pediatric physical therapy and services to children and adults with disabilities in the mid to late 1980's.  I had the opportunity to return to graduate school and completed a MS in pediatric physical therapy at OUHSC in 1999. 

I continue to be active in the clinical setting working at Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada as well as consulting with several school.  I also enjoy working the Sooner Start program serving young children and their families in a three county area.  I have had the pleasure of working with and learning from many wonderful students, children, and families.  I have had wonderful instructors in both formal university education and through ongoing continuing education courses that I have pursued.  I believe that if we need to continued learning throughout our life and this a great profession to focus that learning.

I believe that learning begins in the student and before a student is really going to grasp a concept, they must first have a desire to learn and be able to ask a question.  Being able to ask a question begins with self-evaluation.  "What is it that I need to know, and why?"  This question becomes the "need to learn" and drives the student to the answer.  The teacher must provide resources and examples to facilitate the student's learning, but learning can not be a passive process for the student. Learning is work but it is also a tremendous amount of fun.  I am grateful to the students who have chosen to attend  Murray State College and to our program.

If you would like to see a brief history of my career, click here.