Professor Emeritus

Professor Emeritus
Dr. Joan M. Walker
Professor Emeritus

PhD, MA, BPT, DipTP, FAPTA, FNZSP (Hon.)

Dr. Walker first qualified at the New Zealand School of Physiotherapy, (1957) and went on to complete a Teacher’s of Physiotherapy Diploma (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, England); Bachelor of Physical Therapy and Master of Arts (Physical Anthropology, University of Manitoba), and a PhD (Growth & Development, McMaster University). She taught on the faculties of the Universities of Toronto, Manitoba and McMaster; Witwatersrand in South Africa; and Southern California, in the United States. She was Director at the Dalhousie University  School of Physiotherapy between 1986 and 1994. She enjoys kayaking, gardening, walking and reading.

Research interests: Dr. Walker's research has focused on exercise and aging, influences on cartilage and other joint tissues, and latterly, post-poliomyelitis. Dr. Walker has published more than 90 articles, of which 56 were peer reviewed articles; she has given more than 50 invited papers and courses, and made more than 35 conference presentations. She has served on numerous committees, editorial committees, and was a reviewer for a number of professional journals. She received the prestigious Mildred Elson Award from the World Confederation of Physical Therapy (1999), the Enid Graham Memorial Lecture Award from the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (2002), and the Helen Hislop and Marion Williams awards from the American Physical Therapy Association (1994), was given an honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapy in 2003, and was made a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA in 2004.