Longtime faculty member takes reins of Department of Physical Therapy

by Chuck Gordon

The new director of Wingate University's Department of Physical Therapy brings a student-centered approach and a wealth of experience to the job.

Dr. Mary Swiggum, who has been with the program since 2013, replaces Dr. Karen Friel, who became dean of the Levine College of Health Sciences in August of 2024 after five years at the helm of the PT department. Dr. Brett MacLennan, associate professor, served as interim program head for a little over a year.

Swiggum has been a practicing physical therapist since 1984, and she has kept abreast of the industry through extensive research, producing 56 peer-reviewed publications and presentations over the years. She has played a large role in developing Wingate DPT's burgeoning global program, in which professors and students do service learning at clinics in Central America and Europe, and served as curriculum chair for several years.

Swiggum says that concentrating on student success is paramount to a high-functioning department.

"I truly believe that any student we admit to the program, we should do whatever we can to make sure they succeed," she says. "That's very important to me."

Like many professors, Swiggum came to academia after spending years as a clinician - in her case, three decades. A native of Long Island, N.Y., she was working in a clinic in Alexandria, La., when she started a nonprofit alongside Dr. Stacey Caplan, now an associate professor of occupational therapy at Wingate.

Swiggum realized she was having difficulty coming up with outcome measures for grants she was applying for, so she enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Texas Woman's University in Houston to increase her knowledge base. While there, she found that she most enjoyed the teaching aspect of the program, so she decided to move into the classroom.

Swiggum says not to expect any major changes in a department that has produced graduates who, for the past three years, have collectively been above the national average in first-time pass rate on the National Physical Therapy Exam.

"I like input from the faculty, so I'm not going to say, 'big changes,' because we will grow together," she says. "Any time there's a new director, there's a little fear of where they're going. I kind of want to let the dust settle a little bit, let everybody feel comfortable with where we are and let everybody have a voice on where we're going."

"Mary works on building consensus," Friel says. "I think she's going to be very open. I think she's going to listen to different opinions. I think she's going to be a really good mentor to the less experienced faculty."

Swiggum plans to maintain, if not expand, Wingate's global service component. She has been involved in Wingate DPT's global educational and service opportunities for years and says that students learn valuable skills, such as problem solving, while serving overseas. For instance, a Wingate cohort spends four weeks each year working at a clinic in the Central American country of Belize, which is often hot and humid.

"We tend to put people in braces and orthotics to help their foot alignment, but when it's 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity, nobody wants to wear orthotics," she says. "I feel it's important for our students to get exposed to different environments, drastically different environments. It does make you think differently."

Swiggum's specialty is pediatric physical therapy. She has been heavily involved with Kinetic Kids, an exercise program for children with disabilities and their siblings, and with Angelic Riders, which provides therapeutic horseback riding.

Friel says she wants to commend MacLennan for holding down the fort for the past year, especially for his work on curricular and policy revisions. "He really did a great job as interim," she says.

Learn moreabout studying physical therapy at Wingate.

Oct. 10, 2025