Stacy Smallfield, DrOT, has been named director of the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions Occupational Therapy Program, effective July 1. Dr. Smallfield, who served as interim director of the program for the past year and previously as associate director, is the second director in the program’s history.
“We congratulate Dr. Smallfield on her appointment,” Dean Tammy Webster, PhD, said. “She brings extensive leadership experience in programmatic accreditation, curriculum development and renewal, advanced certification and state-level professional association oversight to this role.”
Dr. Smallfield, a professor in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions who also led the occupational therapy program’s doctoral capstone course sequence, has more than 20 years of experience in occupational therapy education. She practiced in adult physical rehabilitation before transitioning to academia at the University of South Dakota and Washington University in St. Louis. She came to UNMC in 2021.
She has published in peer-reviewed journals including the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapy in Health Care and the Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, and she has presented nationally and internationally.
Dr. Smallfield co-launched a new journal, “Translational Science in Occupation,” with fellow UNMC occupational therapy faculty. She also collaborated with fellow UNMC faculty in dentistry and allied health to develop a module which won top honors at UNMC’s Innovators in Education E-Learning Showcase.
She succeeds founding program director Nancy Krusen, PhD, who will remain on faculty. Dr. Krusen was recently honored with the Visionary Leadership in Education Award at the Impact in Education Awards.