Fulbright win in Dunedin

A Dunedin woman has become New Zealand's first occupational therapist to receive a Fulbright scholarship.

Dr Linda Wilson, the principal lecturer at Otago Polytechnic's school of occupational therapy, was yesterday named as one of eight Fulbright New Zealand Senior Scholar Award recipients for this year.

She was also the only one to be chosen for a Fulbright scholarship from the polytechnic sector.

The $US11,750 (NZ$17,000) grant would allow Dr Wilson to travel to the United States to teach and conduct research for three months, beginning on October 10.

Last night, Dr Wilson told the Otago Daily Times she was "absolutely delighted" to hear she had won the award.

She believed winning the scholarship underscored the transformation of the status of occupational therapy in the past 20 years.

In that time, the role had changed from "a job women did for a couple of years" into an international and well-researched profession, she said.

"I think it [the Fulbright] affirms and acknowledges something that has been creeping up over time," she said.

The scholarship would also provide a boost to Dr Wilson's career, through international networking, the development of new programmes and her efforts to encourage the next generation of students, she said.

Dr Wilson has practised occupational therapy in New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and Britain.

She grew up in Lower Hutt before studying at the University of Otago in the early 1970s, and moved back to Dunedin in 1987.

Dr Wilson was the foundation head when the Otago Polytechnic School of Occupational Therapy was established in 1990, and in the 1990s was the New Zealand representative to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.

With NZPA