I am honored and humbled to stand before you as the 29th President of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). I accept this torch from President Florence Clark and want you to know that I share her passion and commitment to serve you with arete, a Greek word meaning excellence, which was the theme of Dr. Clark’s 2011 Presidential Address (Clark, 2011).

I’ve been an occupational therapy practitioner for one-third of our profession’s history, and yet I’ve seen our profession grow and change in ways that no one could have dreamed of. Many of us remember the days when most of our friends, family, and even clients didn’t really know what an occupational therapist was. Today when I say that I’m an occupational therapist, people nod and often share a story about someone close to them who received occupational therapy services.