During our annual conference in April, WVPTA had the privilege of announcing Carrie Abraham as the recipient of the Nancy Tonkin Distinguished Service Award. This Award is given to a member whose contributions to the WVPTA are of exceptional and enduring value, just as Nancy Tonkin, our former executive director, provided to the WVPTA.  Recipients must be members of the chapter for more than 10 years and not presently serving on the executive committee.  Members who meet these qualifications can then be nominated for the award and letters of support are also provided. An ad hoc committee is put together to review the nominations and select a winner.

Dr. Abraham has served as the president of the chapter for 2 terms but she has also served in numerous volunteer and appointed roles such as the Ethics Committee, secretary, vice president, president-elect, and the By-Laws Committee.  During the time of her presidency, Dr. Abraham carried us through the opening of our practice act, and led the effort to promote the adoption of “Choose PT” or Physical Therapy First” to help combat the opioid pandemic.  She has led the charge more recently for our By-Law revisions and is a true representative of what it means to give service to the chapter.

Dr. Abraham has been a faculty member in the Physical Therapy program at Wheeling University for over 20 years and as such is an incredible role model and advocate for the profession.  We recognize her for her passion, intellect, leadership skills and her tireless efforts to support the WVPTA.  She oozes enthusiasm for the profession and always shows up to help when the WVPTA needs her.  She is a true example of the type of dedication and effort that Nancy Tonkin provided. Congratulations to Carrie!