Barbara Loomis

Director of the Curriculum, 1971-81

An influential educator and leader, Barbara Loomis expanded access to occupational therapy education and helped shape the institutional evolution of allied health programs at the University of Illinois.

Once people know what our profession is, they recognize its worth. There’s no doubt about it. I think my own life is enriched, just because I’ve practiced as an OT and I’ve taught it. And I believe in it.  I think that for OTs, basically, it’s a way of life.

Barbara Loomis

Early life and education

Barbara Loomis discovered occupational therapy in 1940 during a high school visit to Milwaukee-Downer College, where a studio filled with looms and pottery wheels first sparked her interest in the field.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in occupational therapy in 1946 and began her career in Detroit, providing home health services supported by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. She later spent five years at Hines Veterans Administration Hospital, gaining experience across clinical areas including tuberculosis care and neurology.

In 1955, Loomis received a Fulbright Fellowship to Paris, where she was tasked with establishing France’s first occupational therapy school. Despite language barriers and limited resources, she developed the program within a month and trained its first students.

After returning to Chicago, Loomis served as supervisor of the outpatient neurology unit at the University of Illinois Hospital. She earned a master’s degree in human development from the University of Chicago in 1963 and joined the University of Illinois faculty in 1964 as an assistant professor and curriculum coordinator.

Leadership at UIC

Loomis served as director of the occupational therapy curriculum from 1971 to 1981, succeeding founder Beatrice D. Wade. Her leadership marked a period of growth, innovation, and institutional change.

She expanded the program’s reach by:

  • Doubling student enrollment from 25 to 50
  • Launching a “2+2” Bachelor of Science program in 1979, allowing students to complete preprofessional coursework at other institutions
  • Securing federal funding to establish a satellite program at the Urbana campus

These efforts broadened access to occupational therapy education and helped address workforce shortages across Illinois.

Advancing allied health education

As acting dean of the School of Associated Medical Sciences from 1977 to 1978, Loomis played a central role in a major institutional transition. She led efforts to move occupational therapy and other allied health programs out of the College of Medicine and into a newly established, freestanding college.

This transition resulted in the creation of the University of Illinois College of Associated Health Professions (now the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences). Despite differing opinions among faculty, Loomis advocated for independence to support future growth, including new degree programs, training grants and expanded funding opportunities.

Her leadership helped position allied health disciplines for long-term academic and professional advancement.

Contributions to the profession

Loomis made lasting contributions to occupational therapy education, regulation and historical preservation.

Her impact includes:

  • Helping establish the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association archives at the UIC Health Sciences Library
  • Serving for 12 years on the American Occupational Therapy Association Accreditation Committee
  • Contributing to the development of licensure as a member and vice chair of Illinois’ first occupational therapy licensure board
  • Consulting on the development of occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs, including at Chicago State University

Through her work, Loomis strengthened educational standards, professional governance and the visibility of the field.

Scholarship and legacy

Loomis’s commitment to education continues through the Barbara Loomis Scholarship at the University of Illinois Chicago, established to support students pursuing careers as academic or clinical educators.

Colleagues and former students remember her for her dedication to teaching, her intellectual curiosity and her belief in occupational therapy as both a profession and a way of life.

Leadership and accomplishments

  1. A black and white image of a woman in a nurse's uniform
    Loomis in the early 1950s while an OT at the Hines Veterans Administration Hospital in Maywood Illinois.
  2. Black and white photo of a woman walking down a street with the eiffel tower in the background
    Barbara Loomis in Paris in 1955 after receiving a Fulbright Fellowship to develop a new occupational therapy education program in Paris.
  3. A black and white photo of a woman posing with a skeleton
    Loomis on the Urbana Campus, transporting a skeleton to be used for a review session with the OT students enrolled in kinesiology class.
  4. A woman seated smiling at the camera
    Loomis in 1977 when she became the Acting Dean of the School of Associated Medical Sciences in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Medical Center.
  5. A woman with glasses wearing a red top smiling at the camera
    Barbara Loomis at a UIC gathering of former faculty and alumni for the class of 1958 and 1959’s 50th anniversary reunion in 2008.
  6. Two women standing and smiling at the camera
    Gail Fisher
    Barbara Loomis (right) with Cindy DeRuiter '13 OTD (left), recipient of the 2013 Barbara Loomis Scholarship Award.
  7. A group o four woman smiling at the camera
    Bottom left to right: Gail Fisher, ’80, and Barbara Loomis celebrate at a 2013 college reception with Nancy Richman, ‘61 and Coralie (Corky) Glantz, ‘61, recipients of the College of Applied Health Sciences Loyalty Award.
  8. A group of 4 women standing and smiling at the camera
    From left to right: Anne Kiraly-Alvarez '07 MS OT, '08 OTD, Barbara Loomis, Gail Fisher and Nicole Thonn '10 MS OT, who is the first recipient of the Loomis Scholarship in 2011. Loomis was honored for her endowment of the Loomis Scholarship at a 2015 dinner hosted by UIC for donors and supporters.
  9. Three women smiling at the camera.
    Gail Fisher
    In February 2018, UIC OT clinical associate professor Ashley Stoffel (left) and OT clinical associate professor Kathy Preissner ‘96 BS OT (right) interviewed Barbara Loomis for the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association and UIC archives.