F.A.P.T.A. (Fellow, American Physical Therapy Association)
F.N.Z.S.P. (Hon Fellow, New Zealand Society of Physiotherapy),
N.Z.M.T.A. (Hon Life Member - New Zealand Manual Therapy Association)
F.I.F.O.M.T. (Hon Life Member and Founders Award
International Federation Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy a sub body of WCPT))
F.A.A.O.M.P.T. (Fellow and Hon Life Member,
- American Academy Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapy)
M.C.S.P. (Member Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, England)
B.I.M. (British Institute of Management, England now an MBA)
Dr. Paris is the Founding President and Chairman of the Board of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences. The University is a proprietary institution, which encompasses the Institutes of Physical Therapy and of Occupational Therapy. Programs include the first professional doctorate for both physical and occupational therapy, continuing professional education, transitional doctorates and advanced masters degrees.
Since his immigration to the United States from New Zealand in 1966, he has been actively involved in research, clinical practice and teaching in the area generally known as orthopaedic and manual physical therapy. His doctoral work was in functional anatomy of the spine with emphasis on neuroanatomy of the lumbar spine.
He has been an advocate of clinical specialization and assertive professional practice. In 1987 he received an award from the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties for his efforts in the development of clinical specialization. For his work in founding and developing the Orthopaedic Section of the American Physical Therapy Association, the Section has named after him the annual Paris Founders Award for Distinguished Service. He was also the founding chairman of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapy and later served as its president and received the Founders Award in 1996 and was made an honorary life member in 2000. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the American Physical Therapy Association and a number of other professional and civic organizations. In 2002 he was made a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association. In 2006 he received the highest honor in physical therapy in delivering the 37th Mary McMillan Lecture.
He has published more than forty articles in physical therapy, medical and osteopathic journals and a book, The Spinal Lesion (1965). He has presented his concepts in clinical treatment as well as his findings in anatomical research, which in 1984 gained him his Ph.D. He has also published a series of manuals in manual therapy. Dr. Paris is co-editor of the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy.
Dr. Paris hosted a 6-part series on National Public Television entitled, "Back Pain: Cause, Prevention and Treatment". He has also produced a movie film, entitled "Its Your Back," and a one day program for RTN TV titled "Paris Orthopaedics: Spine Pain and Dysfunction."
Although his primary specialty is in conservative management of the spine, he has also been active in sports physical therapy and was twice appointed to the New Zealand Olympic Team. In 1985 he personally completed the World Championship Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, and in 1986 he twice swam the English Channel, and has three times sailed across the North Atlantic and twice the Pacific.
Dr. Paris is a member of a number of professional societies including:
Senior Member, International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine - ISSLS
Honorary Life Member, New Zealand Manipulative Therapists Association HonLife NZSP
Honorary Fellow, New Zealand Society of Physiotherapy ? FNZSP
Honorary Life Member and receipient of the Founders Award, International Federation
Orthopaedic Manipulative Therapists ? Hon.Life IFOMT
Member, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (England) - MCSP
Founding Fellow and Hon Life Member, American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists - FAAOMPT
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President
Michael J. Hillyard, DPA
Michael Hillyard is President of the University of St. Augustine, a health sciences institution that annually produces the U.S.’s largest and third-largest classes of physical and occupational therapists, respectively, through campus operations in St. Augustine, Boca Raton, and San Diego, as well as distance education and continuing education programs around the world.
Hillyard previously served as President of Rockwell University, a two-campus and distance education provider of career-oriented information technology degree and certificate programs in the Washington, D.C. area. He was also formerly Provost and Executive Vice President of the American Public University System, where he oversaw academic policy and operations for the American Public University's, American Military University's and American Community College's 15,000 students, 350 faculty members, and 160 degrees and programs. Earlier in his academic career, he served initially as Academic Programs Manager and then as Academic Dean of the American Military University.
Hillyard's professional service has included being a member of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Career College Advisory Board, an institutional representative for higher education regulations with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, and a certified accreditation evaluator, accreditation team chair, and member of the Research and Educational Standards Committee for the Distance Education and Training Council. Hillyard has served as a board member for American Red Cross's Jefferson and Morgan Counties (West Virginia) Chapter and San Diego, California-based Float, Incorporated — a producer of offshore oil/gas, port, and power plant platform technology.
Hillyard’s public service included a brief campaign and candidacy for the U.S. Congress and early career responsibilities as a U.S. Marine Corps Officer — service that was hallmarked in duties at the Pentagon as a national security analyst for the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Strategic Initiatives Group, membership on the Marine Corps' first ever Quadrennial Defense Review Task Force, and independent research with the Center for Naval Analysis. His active duty and reserve military experience culminated with the rank of Major.
The author of numerous publications in areas of national security, military affairs, leadership, and education, Hillyard’s authored works include Homeland Security and the Need for Change: Organizing Principles, Governing Institutions, and American Culture; Public Crisis Management: How and Why Organizations Work Together to Solve Society's Most Threatening Problems; and Cincinnatus and the Citizen Servant Ideal: The Roman Legend's Life, Times, and Legacy.
Hillyard’s education includes the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Miami University (Ohio), Master of Arts in Military Studies from the American Military University, and Master and Doctor of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He has also completed post-doctoral studies with Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.
With his wife, Cara, and their two sons, Andrew and Alexander, the Hillyard family resides in northeastern Florida.
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