Roane State professor wins Outstanding PTA Educator award

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

Roane State Community College Associate Professor Emily A. DeLozier has been awarded the Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Educator of the Year Award for 2021.

The Tennessee chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association recently announced the award during its virtual spring business meeting.

“It’s a great honor, and I’m very humbled to receive it,” said DeLozier, who is also the academic coordinator of clinical education for Roane State’s PTA program. “Every opportunity I’ve had has been as part of a team,” the Knoxville resident said.

There are more than 2,250 members of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Tennessee chapter. DeLozier said Associate Professor Beth Vowell, director of Roane State’s PTA program, “deserves as much credit as I do.”

DeLozier was nominated for the honor by a clinical instructor and supervisor she’s known and worked with since 2001. “He had some very kind words to say about me,” she said.

DeLozier received her associate degree from Roane State, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, and her master’s degree in training and development from Tennessee Tech University.

Before coming to Roane State, DeLozier worked as a physical therapist assistant in a variety of settings, from Blount Memorial Hospital to Knox County Schools to private clinics.

She began working in Roane State’s PTA program in 2012 and became a tenured associate professor at the community college in 2018.

DeLozier has been very active throughout her career in the American Physical Therapy Association. She served as chair of the PTA’s Special Interest Group for several years and represented Tennessee’s PTAs on the national level at the House of Delegates in 2001 and 2002. To learn more about RSCC’s Physical Therapist Assistant program, visit roanestate.edu/PTA.