Satoru Izutsu

(Posted February 28, 2021)

Satoru Izutsu, Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Psychiatry, Vice Dean, and Director of the Office of Global Health/Medicine at the University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine, began his life work in health as an occupational therapist in 1952. He began as a staff therapist treating children with cerebral palsy; directed a sheltered workshop for the elderly with disabilities; and as superintendent, managed a large institution (860 beds) for people with intellectual disabilities. Internationally, he volunteered with the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) to establish the first occupational therapy training program in Yugoslavia. Also, he has worked on projects in Micronesia, Guam, American Samoa, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries. In 1991, he represented AOTA on a rehabilitation team to evaluate the welfare of institutionalized children in Romania. He was a WFOT delegate on the AOTA Board. He served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry officer during the Korean War. After 30 years in the active Reserves, Satoru retired as a Colonel. His last assignment was Mobilization Designee to the Chief of the Army Medical Specialist Corps (AMSC), Office of the Surgeon General, the Pentagon.

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