50 years of Occupational Therapy education

Professor Karen Luker, Ms Judith Martin (Head of Occupational Therapy) and Professor Michael Orme.

Fifty years, 72 cohorts of students, three locations and 2,270 qualified occupational therapists later, the founder, Dr Constance Owens MBE, would have been proud and pleased to see the celebrations which took place at The University of Liverpool and in Huyton - the village in which the original Liverpool School of Occupational Therapy opened in 1946. 300 ex students and staff attended the two day event. On Friday 19 July, in the Tate Hall, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Professor Michael Orme, welcomed the guests, paid tribute to Constance Owens and unveiled a commemorative stained glass window which will be installed in the Johnston Building where the Department of Occupational Therapy is situated.

In 1985 occupational therapy education moved from Huyton into the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education (now the Liverpool Hope University College) and later became part of the University of Liverpool Faculty of Medicine. These moves are featured in the commemorative window which depicts the three logos - the College in Huyton, the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education and the University Crest, and the Occupational Therapy Badge presented to current graduates. There were student representatives from 52 courses attending, and group reunion parties took place all over Merseyside.