This past week, at our Annual Interdisciplinary Integration Symposium, we presented the PRI Director’s Dedication Award to three very deserving individuals who have had a tremendous impact on our Institute over the years; Donna Parise Byrne, Dan Houglum, and Josh Olinick. The PRI Director’s Dedication Award was established by the Board of Directors (Ron Hruska, Janie Ebmeier, Jennifer Platt and Bobbie Rappl) in 2012 to recognize individuals’ ongoing dedication to their advancement in PRI.
Past PRI Director’s Dedication Award recipients include: Susan Henning and Joe Belding (December 2012); Kyndall Boyle and James Anderson (April 2014); Michael Cantrell (December 2014); Jason Masek (April 2015); Michal Niedzielski (December 2015); Jennifer Poulin and Lori Thomsen (April 2017); and Kentaro Ishii and Sayuri Abe-Hiraishi (December 2017). An award recognition plaque is displayed at the Postural Restoration Institute® in Lincoln, Nebraska, recognizing each of the PRI Directors Dedication Award recipients.
Donna Parise Byrne attended her first PRI course in 2009, and has taken 28 PRI courses since that time. She was a member of the 2012 Postural Restoration Certified™ (PRC) class. Donna’s background and love for Pilates led to discussions with Ron Hruska about PRI’s integration with Pilates very early on in her PRI journey. This later led to her involvement with the PRI Affiliate Course, PRI Integration for Pilates, which was offered for the first time in 2017. Those who have attended this course, have loved it, and we look forward to watching it grow in attendance in the coming years. Donna owns Pilates Central in Wilmette, Illinois, where she has hosted several PRI courses over the years.
Dan Houglum attended his first PRI course in 2004, and over the past 16 years he has attended 45 PRI courses. He was also a member of the 2012 Postural Restoration Certified™ (PRC) class. Dan spent much of his early career working in corporate PT/rehab settings, and in 2015 he opened Houglum Physical Therapy so that he could offer one-on-one hour long patient care at two locations: Pilates Central (with PRC colleague Donna Parise Byrne) in Wilmette, Illinois, and The Trainer’s Club in Deerfield, Illinois. Dan joined the PRI Faculty in 2016, and teaches Myokinematic Restoration. His students love him, and his background in athletic training, corporate PT, and now private practice offers a great blend of experience to all of those attending. He has put together a wonderful white paper to help colleagues and students further titled, Hruska Abduction and Adduction Lift Tests as Related to the Gait Cycle.
Josh Olinick attended his first PRI course in 2006 as a PT student, after being introduced to PRI by Kyndy Boyle (a past PRI Directors Dedication Award Recipient) who was on faculty at Elon University. Josh and his wife Katie own STEPS for Recovery in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a clinic which offers physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Over the past 14 years, Josh has taken 31 PRI courses. He was a member of the 2011 Postural Restoration Certified™ (PRC) class. In 2010, Josh co-authored “The Value of Blowing up a Balloon” with Kyndy Boyle and Cynthia Lewis, which was published in the North American Journal of Sports Physical Therapy. Josh’s background in engineering makes his brain fit for PRI, and he is always askign great questions, he frequently submits ideas and white papers (see all of his papers on his bio here) to help others learn and understand PRI better, and he always has his patient’s and other PRI colleague’s back. In his spare time, he has hand-crafted around a dozen PRI logos in all kinds of woods, which are proudly displayed in clinics across the country.
Congratulations to all three of these wonderful individuals. We are so honored and proud to know you and have you associated with our Institute! CLICK HERE to view all of the photos from the award presentations.
