programme - ENOTHE

DR. CHARLES CHRISTIANSEN (Head of the American Association of
Occupational Therapy)
Charles Christiansen is Executive Director of the American
Occupational Therapy Foundation, located in Bethesda, Maryland.
Prior to his current position he served as Vice Provost for Health
Sciences and Founding Director of the Center for Allied Health
Programs at the University of Minnesota. Earlier, and for nearly
fourteen years, he served as University Chief Academic Officer, and
Dean and George T. Bryan Distinguished Professor in the College of
Health Professions at the University of Texas Medical Branch
(UTMB). He has also held administrative and academic
appointments at The University of British Columbia, at The
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and at
Texas Woman’s University.
Dr. Christiansen was born in Panama and schooled in the United
States and abroad. During his youth, He graduated from high school
in Germany and returned to the United States to earn an
undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy at the School of
Medicine, University of North Dakota. He later earned a master’s
degree in Counselling Psychology from Ball State University and a
doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of
Houston. He completed a postdoctoral administrative residency
through Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Christiansen is an elected
member of several honorary and professional societies, including
Phi Theta Epsilon, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, the American Congress of
Rehabilitation Medicine, the Human Factors Society, and the Society
for the Study of Occupation (USA) and several international
organizations, including the International Society on Quality of Life
14