Ingram promotes physical therapy and education at UTC

Dr. Debbie Ingram quickly rose through the ranks at Erlanger Medical Center in the 1980s to become director of rehabilitation, managing five departments.

In 1990, when Dr. Ingram and her husband, David, adopted a baby girl and she wanted more flexibility in her career, Ingram accepted an offer to join the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to help launch what at the time was only the second PT program in Tennessee.

Over the past 27 years, Ingram has personally taught more than 600 physical therapists and is now

working with more than 90 doctoral students. While developing the PT program and teaching at UTC, she also earned a doctorate at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and has served as chair of the Tennessee Board of Occupational and Physical Therapy Examiners, co-chair of the American Physical Therapy Association’s Clinical Education Special Interest Group and a board member for the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association and the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

“I am not one just to sit on the fence — and neither are the others in this department,” she says.

Ingram’s passion for volunteerism extends beyond physical therapy.

In 2007 and 2008, she served as president of the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association, representing the 335,000 graduates of all campuses. It was the only time in history that the president was a faculty member. Traveling across the country, Ingram delivered more than 100 speeches promoting the value of higher education at UT and encouraging other alumni to share their stories of how education changed their lives.

“Education changes people’s lives, and it was a real thrill to talk about the University of Tennessee and meet with alumni all over the country,” she said.