Lynda D. Woodruff, PhD a trailblazer, educator, leader and soldier for social justice died at her home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. Born Lynda Darnell Woodruff, on September 29, 1947, to the former Georgia Etta Richardson Woodruff and Lloyd Alton Woodruff in Amherst County, Virginia. She spent her preschool and early elementary years in Amherst. She attended Lynchburg public schools where she became one of the first 2 African-American students to integrate by landmark court order the then segregated public schools in 1962. She graduated from EC Glass High School in 1965. She received her undergraduate degree at Case Western Reserve University (1969) and graduate degree in physical therapy (1971). She was awarded her PhD at Georgia State University (1984). Dr. Woodruff's professional career as an academic physical therapist of both national and international renown had its humble beginnings at the Memorial Hospital in Danville, Virginia where she began working as a staff physical therapist (1971) acutely recognizing the devastating impact of health disparities on minority patients. This experience inspired her to envision a broader horizon as an investigator, educator, mentor and advocate. She later joined the faculty of the Physical Therapy Department, Division of Physical Therapy (PT) School of Medicine, University of North Carolina (1976) as an Assistant Professor. She was then recruited to Georgia State University as an Assistant Professor where she founded and directed the awarded winning Minority Faculty Recruitment and Retention Program. She was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure (1983). During this time, she also continued to maintain a clinical practice as a senior physical therapist at Dekalb Physical Therapists (CEO Robert McNeil). Dr. Woodruff was appointed Full Professor with tenure and Founding Chairman Department of Physical Therapy North Georgia College in Dahlonega, Georgia (1991), where she developed the first Post-Baccalaureate Physical Therapy program in the State of Georgia. She served as Chair (1991-96) and then continued as Full Professor until 2005. During her tenure she authored 10 grants of greater than $1 million to sustain operations and to initiate creative outreach community projects. She received gubernatorial appointment to the Georgia State Board of Physical Therapy serving for more than a decade. As Chairman of this Board she worked to get controversial legislation introduced to prevent unlicensed practitioners from providing direct patient care. A vocal advocate for the evolution of greater autonomy of PT's in patient care, Lynda helped design and gain accreditation for the doctoral educational curriculum that is now the standard in this field. She served as a Site Visitor and later as Commissioner for the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (1998-201). Building on these aggregate experiences as a Chairman and Commissioner she would later help build 8 programs in PT around the country. Additionally, as an academician, Dr. Woodruff authored more than thirty professional publications in scientific journals, numerous national and international presentations in the areas of clinical electrophysiology, laser therapy, health disparities, rural health and problem-based learning pedagogy to name a few. At the national and international level, her leadership roles blossomed in the realms of education, humanism and advocacy. She is a founding member: American Academy of Physical Therapy, North American Association of Laser Therapy, American Congress on Electroneuromyography and several other prestigious professional organizations in her field of endeavor. Dr. Woodruff worked fervently for nearly 40 years to build strong collaborations between Brazilian and U.S. physical therapy institutions by developing an exchange program for faculty and students. She also served as a medical educator in Brazil. Lynda was passionate about equity and the elimination of disparities in health. She was pivotal in establishing the original Advisory Council on Minority Affairs, Office of Minority Affairs and several Minority Scholarships at the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) all designed to develop and maintain the pipeline of minority PT's. These programs have led to recruitment, retention and advancements of many minorities in the field of PT over 4 decades and will surely greatly extend her professional legacy for many years to come. On a personal level she mentored and housed many students. These prot‚g‚s affectionately identify themselves as "Woody Babies". Dr. Lynda Woodruff is the recipient of numerous professional awards and recognitions. Prominent among these were the APTA's Lucy Blair Service Award, the Kellogg Fellowship for International Leadership and the Distinguished Service Award for the (then) Section on Clinical Electrophysiology to name only a few. This phenomenal career has been well documented through the APTA Oral History Project in which she is one of only 100 physical therapists recorded in the Association's Archives. In a statement by APTA President Sharon Dunn President of the APTA (March 28, 2018) described Lynda as one "of our profession's most remarkable and widely respected leaders [her] spirit was big and her presence powerful." She further characterized Lynda as an "important voicea stalwart advocate for our conscience for diversity and inclusion" in her letter to the membership of the field's most prestigious society. Dr. Dunn in her final words stated that "she was an icon and will be missed." Despite her pioneering role in civil rights, academic achievements, professional leadership, international work and advocacy, Lynda's life was driven by three simplistic core principles of Faith, Family & Friends. The foundation of her spiritual life was and will remain one of deep Christian faith that she first learned through life lessons on the family farm and at Timothy Baptist Church in Amherst County Virginia. Water baptism as a child on the banks of the Piney Forks of Buffalo River at the church nearly 7 decades ago would lead to a life filled with love of God through faith and love of man through service. This rebirth would transcend the humble bucolic setting of her childhood to provide her with strength and fortitude to champion change and become a thread in the tapestry of the fabric of the national dialogue of social justice in education and health care. As a teenager she became a member of the St Paul's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg when the congregation of her original Church the Good Shepherd became merged into St Paul's. She was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, Atlanta, Georgia. She believed that "for those they love they sacrifice." A life ethos that was modelled by her grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, family friends and Christian community. She was a passionate, hardworking, committed individual whose life's work was always "other focused." Her love of family in both the nuclear and extended form is epitomized by all the private relationships she had with each of her nephews, nieces and cousins, who all thought they were her "favorite." She loved both parents but had a special love for her "daddy," Ed Barksdale Sr. who she felt chose her to be his one and only daughter. Although not biologically related (you would never know by their shared love and adoration), they were spiritually bound as close as any father and daughter could be. He provided critical balance to her fire, support for her to fail forward and was the "wind beneath her wings." She also dearly loved her brother Ed Jr. ("Ricky") who was both sibling and child to her. She admired his intellect, drive and quiet strength like his father and adored his wife (Michele) and their children (Tres, Drew, Gil and Morgan). She had numerous cousins and friends that became family. She enjoyed people individually and in groups and gave of herself generously to them. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She was initiated into the Alpha Phi Omega Chapter (Graduate) Danville, Virginia in 1974. Family also meant community for her either students or professional colleagues that thought of her as their mother, even those who were more senior. Her matriarchal empire was broad and deep extending beyond barriers of culture, geography and language especially in Brazil. She had numerous friends and colleagues across the academic, professional, ethnic and socioeconomic spectrum. Friend was a loose term for her, if she could "help somebody" they were a friend. She will be greatly missed. She was preceded in death by her father, Lloyd A. Woodruff; stepfather "Daddy", Edward M. Barksdale Sr. She is survived by her mother, Georgia W. Barksdale of Lynchburg, Edward "Ricky" M. Barksdale Jr. MD and her sister-in-law, Michele Barksdale; her nephews and niece, Edward, Andrew, Nicholas and Morgan of Solon, Ohio; an aunt, Gladine Richardson of Amherst; cousins, Vivian Hudson, Angelo Richardson, DeeDee Richardson-Dillard, Keith Richardson, Kendall Richardson, Renee Richardson, Delano Richardson, and C. Michele Sandidge; and numerous professional children who she mentored, loved and supported known as "Woody Babies". In lieu of flowers, donations: PT Minority Scholarship Fund (Lynda Woodruff) A celebration of life will be held 11 a.m. Monday, April 2, 2018, at St. St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Lynchburg. A repast will follow immediately after the service in the Under Croft of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Service of comfort rendered by Davis-Turner Funeral Service.