UNLV has hired a director of its physical therapy program, signaling the start-up of the long-anticipated program in the College of Health Sciences, UNLV President Carol C. Harter announced Monday (Feb. 24).
Harvey W. Wallmann, former director of physical therapy at Strength Training, Inc. in Phoenix, will assume his duties at UNLV on July 1.
"We are delighted to have Harvey Wallmann joining our College of Health Sciences, and I know the many potential students of our physical therapy program are equally excited," Harter said. "It is our aim, as a premier urban university, to provide the forms of education and training that are needed by the people of Southern Nevada, and we have heard from many people that they are anxious for our physical therapy program to begin accepting students."
The first students in the program will begin their classes in fall 1998, according to Carolyn Sabo, interim dean of the College of Health Sciences.
Two new faculty will be hired in August, and Wallmann will spend approximately one year developing the program and seeking its national accreditation in preparation for welcoming the first class of 20 students. Students will be admitted to the program during the spring and summer of 1998, Sabo said.
"We are very much looking forward to getting going," Sabo said. "Harvey Wallmann has very strong clinical skills and has the enthusiastic support of the Physical Therapy Advisory Board, a group of Southern Nevada professionals, as well as the university search committee that participated in his selection."
Provost Douglas Ferraro noted that, "New search initiatives allowed us to identify an outstanding individual in a difficult marketplace. Although this program has been a long time in coming, I am certain that we are now on the way to developing a first-rate course of study in physical therapy at UNLV."
A former instructor in physical therapy at Purdue University, Wallmann earned master's degrees in exercise physiology from Purdue and in physical therapy from the University of Indianapolis. He earned the bachelor of arts degree in movement and sports science from Purdue and is a candidate for the Ph.D. in nutrition, health, and fitness from Purdue.
Wallmann is a licensed physical therapist and holds certification as a strength and conditioning specialist and athletic trainer.
