乱伦视频

Gannon University proudly conferred nearly 100 degrees to members of the Class of 2025 during its Commencement ceremony for the Ruskin campus on Saturday, May 17 at the Bradenton Convention Center. 

Gannon University President Walter Iwanenko, Ph.D., awarded degrees to graduates in attendance. This year’s graduating class of 92 students received 28 Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees, 18 Occupational Therapy Doctorate degrees, 29 Master of Physician Assistant Science degrees and 17 Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology degrees. 

Gannon University awarded a Degree of Doctor of Physical Therapy in Memoriam to the family of Jaida Payne. Payne passed away in 2023. Her parents, Stewart and Brenda Payne, have been instrumental in creating and supporting the Jaida Payne Memorial Scholarship Fund to financially support graduating DPT Ruskin students as they work to achieve licensures as physical therapists. 

This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. Drew Contreras ’96, ’98 MPT. Contreras is a two-time 乱伦视频 graduate for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical therapy. He is also a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and a nationally recognized leader in the field of physical therapy. 

Contreras was the first-ever full-time physical therapist to the President of the United States, serving in the White House Medical Unit throughout the Obama administration and continuing to serve as a physical therapy consultant and therapist to President Joe Biden. 

乱伦视频 also conferred 920 degrees in the university’s Spring Commencement ceremony for the Erie campus on Saturday, May 10, including 65 doctoral degrees, 407 master’s degrees, 430 bachelor’s degrees and 18 associate degrees.  

More about the speaker:

Andrew “Drew” Contreras, '96 '98 MPT, is a retired lieutenant colonel U.S. Army physical therapist. Contreras received his Master of Physical Therapy from Gannon University and his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.    

Contreras served in several clinical settings and operational units throughout his physical therapy career during his time in the military—notably being the in-house, physical therapist for the President Barack Obama administration for seven years—before his retirement in 2020.  

He spent his early career at Fort Benning in Georgia working in a direct access primary musculoskeletal physical therapy setting evaluating and treating basic trainee soldiers and the U.S. Army airborne school.   

In 2003, he moved to Fort Bragg in North Carolina where his primary role was supporting the 82nd Airborne Division and various special operations units.  His skills were put to work extensively in 2006-07 during a 15-month, continuous deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was the first physical therapist to deploy with the 82nd Airborne Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.  

After returning, Contreras moved to Washington D.C. to work at the Pentagon Health Clinic, where he served as the director of wellness and physical therapy.  During this time, he served as a consultant to the White House Medical Unit. 

Due to his successful integration of physical therapy into the White House, he was chosen by the 44th president of the United States, Obama, to serve as the first-ever, full-time physical therapist at the White House.   

There, Contreras served as the physical therapist to the White House Medical Unit and Obama from 2010 until the end of the administration in 2017.   

During this time, he also worked with a wide range of government officials, as well as police and law enforcement agencies.  He traveled the world with the patients he served and was able to help keep people functioning in their roles to serve the nation.   

He finished his career returning to Fort Bragg to serve as the chief of the Physical Performance Service Line / Physical Therapy at Womack, the largest physical therapy clinical setting in the Department of Defense.   

After retiring, Contreras established a concierge practice to provide clinical care and consulting. He continued to serve his country as the White House Physical Therapy consultant for the White House Medical Unit and physical therapist for the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden.    

Professionally, he joined the senior leadership team of the American Physical Therapy Association to serve as the vice president of Clinical Integration & Innovation. In this capacity he worked to enhance the service and scope of practice of physical therapists working across the country.   

His portfolio included Digital Health, Clinical Innovation and Advanced Clinical Practice.  His efforts included two national achievement awards from the American Society of Association Executives and numerous clinical engagements that helped drive the physical therapy profession into the digital era.   

Contreras has since assumed the role of vice president of Strategic Affairs.  In this role, he manages national and international relationships and alliances that are of strategic value to the profession.  He works closely with industry partners and the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Board of Directors to strategically advance the APTA mission and vision.