The Elly D. Friedmann Professional Contribution Award – A Tribute to Passionate Enthusiasm and Inspiration

Portrait of Elly D Friedmann

Elly D Friedmann

The Elly D. Friedmann Professional Contribution Award was established in 1989 by Dr. Gudrun Doll-Tepper, Professor, Free University, Berlin, in memory of her close friend and colleague Dr. Elly D. Friedmann, Founder and Director of the State Teachers College of Physical Education at Beer-Sheva, Israel. Elly Friedmann’s early life was spent in Berlin, Heidelberg, and Basle, where she studied philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy as well as physical education and dance. She received her PhD degree magna sum laude from University of Basle, Switzerland, in 1934 and shortly thereafter immigrated to Israel.

Dr. Friedmann’s early and abiding interest lay in systems and approaches to movement that stressed the integrated relationship of mind, body, and soul. Influenced greatly by Rudolf Laban, she introduced Modem Educational Gymnastics and Dance into the Israeli school system and became the world’s leading researcher on movement education as a means of rehabilitating and integrating culturally deprived children.

Dr. Friedmann published frequently in English, Hebrew, and German but her best known book is entitled, Rudolf Laban, Frederic M. Alexander, Moshe Feldenkrais-Pioneers of Awareness Through Movement Experience: Three Essays. The work of these pioneers encompassed yoga, zen, Tai-Chi, other arts of the Far East, Greek philosophy, and Gestalt psychology. Elly Friedmann extended these ideas to pedagogy, didactics, and teacher training, thereby broadening our perspectives in both regular and adapted physical education.

According to her husband Ernst, Elly’s life and contributions are reflected in her favorite quotation from Plato: “We don’t educate through knowledge alone, but through passionate enthusiasm and inspiration as possessed… only one passionately possessed can light the flame and produce a long line of possessed…”

The Elly D. Friedmann Young Professional Awards were created in 1992 by Dr. Claudine Sherrill, Dr. Karen DePauw, and Dr.Gudrun Doll-Tepper to encourage the development of passionate enthusiasm and inspiration in young adapted physical educators and to help produce a long line of possessed… The Elly D. Friedmann awards have been generously supported by her husband, who passed away in April, 1993, and their son Dr. Raffi Amit.

ELLY D. FRIEDMANN AWARDS RECIPIENTS

1993 Dr. Ernst J. Kiphard, Germany
1995 Inge Morisbak, Norway
1997 Dr. Julian U. Stein, USA
1999 Dr. Atara Sherman, Israel
2001 Dr. Kurt-Alphons Jochheim, Germany
2003 Dr. K. Yabe & Dr Y. J. Hong, Japan and Korea
2005 Josef Lev, Israel
2007 Dr. Herman Van Coppenolle, Belgium
2009 Dr. Hana Valkova, Czech Republic
2011 Dr. Hideo Nakata, Japan
2013 Dr. Karen DePauw, USA
2015 Dr. Greg Reid, Canada
2017 Dr. Yeshayahu Hutzler, Israel
2019 Dr. Pauli Rintala, Finland
2021 Dr. Martin Kudlaeck, Czech Republic


G Lawrence Rarick Memorial Lecture

The G. Lawrence Rarick Memorial Lecture was created in 1997 to honour the scholarship and leadership of G. Lawrence Rarick to the field of adapted physical activity. The Lecture recognizes outstanding scholarship with international significance. The work of the Rarick scholar has significant implications for adapted physical activity research, but need not be primarily associated with the adapted physical activity field. The Lecture is presented biennially in conjunction with the ISAPA. Following the presentation, the Lecture is published in APAQ or other appropriate journal.

Previous G. Lawrence Rarick Memorial Lectures

1999 in Barcelona, Spain. Roy Shephard (Canada): Post Modernism and APE: A new
Gnostic heresy?

2001 in Vienna, Austria. Sheila Henderson (UK): Toward an understanding of DCD

2003 in Seoul, Korea. A.E. (Ted) Wall (Canada): Developmental Skill Learning
hypothesis: Implications for learning and instruction

2005 in Verona, Italy: Alain Varray (France): Improving health status through
physical activity for individuals with chronic pulmonary diseases

2007 in Rio Claro, Brazil. Carlos Eduardo Negrão (Brazil): Fitness, exercise science, and
rehabilitation

2009 in Gavle, Sweden. Michael Bar-Eli (Israel): Judgment and decision-making in sport

2011 in Paris, France. Jim Rimmer (USA): How APA professionals fit into the larger
scheme of public health

2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. Greg Reid (Canada): Happy Birthday IFAPA?

2015 in Netanya, Israel. Tamar Heller (USA): Physical activity and nutrition
health promotion interventions for adults with developmental disabilities: Translating research to practice in the community

2017 in Daegu, South Korea. Sok-Rok Song (Korea): Winter Paralympic Games

2019 in Charlottesville, United States of America. David Legg (Canada): Olympic and Paralympic Games: Convergence or Stasis

2021 online (hosted Jyväskylä, Finland). Viviene Temple (Canada): Special Olympics program responses during the COVID-19 pandemic


Young Professional Award

The Young Professional Award in Adapted Physical Activity recognizes the development of passionate enthusiasm and inspiration in young adapted physical activity professionals (less than 40 years of age). The award was established in 1992 through a donation from Dr. Claudine Sherrill. Two Young Professional Awards are given biennially, in conjunction with each ISAPA. Recipients must be present at the Symposium and be members of IFAPA. One award specifically recognizes the contribution of a young professional from the country/region hosting the ISAPA. The second award is open to all eligible professionals.

Young Professional Award Recipients

1993 Harald von Selzam (Germany) & Kazumi Tsukagoshi, (Japan)
1995 Pilvikki Heikinaro-Johansson (Finland) & Hedi Anne Peterson, (Norway)
1997 Lauren Lieberman (USA) & Pascale Poirier, (Canada)
1999 Deena Scoretz (Canada) & Anna Fillat, (Spain)
2001 Andrea Schemey (Austria) & Christoph Lienert, (USA/Germany)
2003 Lisa Silliman-French (USA) & Kwang-Jin Oh, (Korea)
2005 Peter Van de Vliet (Belgium) & Stefano Frassinelli, (Italy)
2007 Jose Angelo Barela (Brazil) Simon Driver (USA)
2009 Cindy Sit (Hong Kong)
2011 Aija Klavina (Latvia) & Steffi de Jong/Pierre Bataille (France/Netherlands)
2013 Bartosz Molik (Poland) & Mehmet Ata Ozturk/Aysen Cevik, (Turkey)
2015 Meghann Lloyd (Canada) & Sharon Barak (Israel)
2017 Justin Haegele (USA) & Kwok Ng (Finland).
2019 Chunxiao Li (Singapore) & Andy Colombo-Dougovito (USA)
2021 Jane Jie Yu (China), Wesley Wilson (USA), Niko & Heidi Leppä (Finland)