Dr. Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science

About the Dr. Ruth Zemke Lectureship

In recognition of Dr. Ruth Zemke's mentorship, questing intellect, and ongoing efforts to foster an occupational science community of researchers, this lectureship was named in her honor. The lectureship is designed as a forum to present visionary, theoretical, and critical analyses of occupational science.

The recipients of the Ruth Zemke Honorary Lecture in Occupational Science are given an engraved kaleidoscope in recognition for their contribution to the study of occupation. Occupation is made up of simple, everyday actions that can be combined in an infinite variety of ways. This variation creates a complexity that requires examination from many perspectives in order to understand its many facets and meanings in people's lives. According to Dr. Zemke, the kaleidoscope serves as a metaphor for occupation. It is a collection of simple, everyday items that can create beautiful and often complex images. People change their perspectives by rotating the kaleidoscope to see the endless variety of images created. Indeed, the kaleidoscope is a well-chosen keepsake for the recipients of the Ruth Zemke Honorary Lecture in Occupational Science.


Nominations for the 2025 Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science are now closed. 

Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2025 RZLOS 


History of Dr. Ruth Zemke Lectureship in Occupational Science

 


Lecturer


Year


Location


Title

1st

Dr. Ruth Zemke

2002

Galveston, TX

Occupational Science: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

2nd

Dr. Elizabeth Yerxa

2003

Park City, UT

The Infinite Distance Between the “I” and “It”

3rd

Dr. Jeanne Jackson

2004

Kah Nee Tah, OR

Occupation at the Center: Creating Authentic Lives in Social Worlds

4th

Dr. Florence Clark

2005

Baltimore, MD

One Person's Thoughts on the Future of Occupational Science

5th

Dr. Charles Christiansen

2006

St. Louis, MO

Adolf Meyer Revisited: Connections between Lifestyles, Resilience and Illness

6th

Dr. Graham Rowles

2007

Albuquerque, NM

Place in occupational science: A life course perspective on the role of environmental context in the quest for meaning

7th

Dr. Claire Hocking

2008

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The challenge of occupation: Describing the things people do

8th

Dr. Virginia Dickie

2009

New Haven, CT

Are occupations ‘processes too complicated to explain'? What we can learn by trying

9th

Dr. Gelya Frank

2010

London, Ontario

Occupational Therapy/Occupational Science/Occupational Justice: Moral Commitments and Global Assemblages

10th

Dr. Doris Pierce

2011

Park City, UT

Promise

11th

Dr. Malcom Cutchin

2012

Portland, Oregon

The Art and Science of Occupation: Nature, Inquiry, and the Aesthetics of Living

12th

Dr. Debbie Laliberte Rudman

2013

Lexington, KY

Embracing and Enacting an ‘Occupational Imagination’: Occupational Science as Transformative

13th

Dr. Elizabeth Townsend

2014

Minneapolis, MN

Doing and Being Well Into Old Age: Occupational Literacy for Justice and Ecological Sustainability

14th

Dr. Ruth Humphry

2015

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Appropriation and transformation of occupations: So what is know-how anyway?

15th

Dr. Kathlyn Reed

2016

Portland, ME

Pioneering OT and OS: Ideas and Practitioners before 1917

16th

Dr. Wendy Wood

2018

Lexington, KY

Envisioning the Environment, Time and Occupation

17th

Dr. Charlotte Royeen

2019

Scottsdale, AZ

The Meta-emotion of Occupation: Feeling about Feeling While Doing

18th

Dr. Staffan Josephsson

2020

San Diego, CA

Narrative in Occupational Science

19th

Dr. Gail Whiteford

2022

San Diego, CA

Towards Salience and Solidarity: The Importance of Epistemic Development in Occupational Science, Occupational Therapy and the Relationship Between Them

20th

Dr. Elelwani Ramugondo

2023

St. Louis, MO

"Occupational Consciousness: Theorising to Dismantle Systemic Racism and Dehumanization"