My Aquatic Bio

Following graduation from Tulane University School of Medicine, I completed my residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Washington. I was an Associate Professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and served as Vice President of Medical Affairs for the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan from January, 1992 until June, 1998 when I moved to Spokane to serve as Medical Director of St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, serving there until January 2006.  I hold clinical appointments as a Clinical Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and was previously Research Professor at Washington State University where I founbnded and was Director of the National Aquatics & Sports Medicine Institute, pursuing physiologic research during aquatic activity. In January 2012, I was appointed as Director of Health Benefit Research Programs for the National Swimming Pool Foundation.

In 1997, Dr. Andrew Cole, MD and I co-authored the textbook Comprehensive Aquatic Therapy published by Butterworth-Heinemann, and which was also published in Portuguese and German. Elsevier published the second edition of our textbook in 2002, and a third edition ofComprehensive Aquatic Therapy was published in 2011 by Washington State University Press, and has been published in Chinese with other translations in progress. I have published numerous chapters on Aquatic Therapy in most of the leading textbooks in rehabilitation medicine, authored aquatic research articles in medical journals, and lectured globally on aquatic health benefits and rehabilitation. I have been honored by a number of organizations for pioneering support of the value of aquatic activity and exercise. In 1999, the Aquatic Therapy and Rehabilitaiton Institute named me as Aquatic Professional of the Year, and Aquatics International Megazine named me to the Power 25 in 2006 and again in 2011. I was the recipient of the John K. Williams Award from the International SAwimming Hall of Fame in May 2011 for my work in adapted aquatics. I have been the recipient of aquatic research grants from the National Swimming Pool Foundation, as well as other grants from the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research division of the Department of Education.  

Bruce E. Becker, MD, MS

As a physiatrist (a medical specialist in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation) with a lifelong interest in aquatic therapy, I have researched, published and lectured on aquatics across the globe.