ANNVILLE, PA (04/06/2026)

Key Points:

—Lebanon Valley College plans to launch a Master of Occupational Therapy in Summer 2028.

—Students will have advanced laboratory and clinical experiences.

—Dr. William Wrightsman, Founding Director, brings significant clinical and leadership experience.

—The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 14 percent growth rate in employment for occupational therapists by 2032.

Lebanon Valley College (LVC) plans to launch a two-year Master of Occupational Therapy degree, expanding its suite of graduate programs and building on its strength in educating health professionals. Dr. William Wrightsman, a clinical practitioner with extensive academic and corporate experience, has been named Founding Director of the program.

The program, which integrates clinical fieldwork with coursework, will welcome its first students in the Summer 2028 semester. Students will learn through a hybrid model that combines online coursework with immersive, in-person laboratory experiences in the advanced classrooms and labs of LVC's Jeanne and Edward H. Arnold Health Professions Pavilion. 

"A Master's in Occupational Therapy program is a strategic addition to LVC's robust Health Sciences portfolio," said Dr. Michelle Maldonado, Provost. "Rooted in hands-on learning, close faculty mentorship, and real-world clinical experience, an LVC education equips future occupational therapists with the skills, confidence, and compassion to make an immediate difference." 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 14 percent growth rate in employment for occupational therapists by 2032.

Wrightsman comes to LVC from Cedar Crest College, where he served as the founding director of the doctoral program in occupational therapy. Before Cedar Crest, he was the founding doctoral capstone coordinator at Touro University Nevada, where he taught for 10 years. His clinical background is in physical dysfunction and rehabilitation with adults and older adults. His teaching focuses on adult and older adult populations, qualitative research, leadership, and social justice courses. 

"Our Master of Occupational Therapy program is designed to prepare occupational therapists who are clinically competent, thoughtful professionals, adaptive practitioners, and emerging leaders," Wrightsman said. "We are intentionally creating a learning model that expands access without compromising quality, blending flexibility with immersive, high-impact, hands-on experiences, so that our graduates are fully prepared to meet the evolving needs of clients and communities."

Wrightsman has completed the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA) Academic Leadership Institute and the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges' (LVAIC) Higher Education Leaders Institute. He has also earned his Certificate in Effective College Instruction, awarded by the Association of College and University Educators and the American Council on Education.

Wrightsman has presented at several AOTA Inspire Conferences and the Society for the Study of Occupations. His primary research methodology is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), and his scholarship focuses on occupational perspectives and marginalized populations. 

Wrightsman received his bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon, a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Touro University, and his Doctor of Science in Occupational Science from Towson University.