Sadler Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series

This year, after a national search, the Sadler Committee selected an outstanding healthcare leader whose work aligns with the 2025-2026 curricular theme of Developing Critical Thinking in PA Education. Gail M. Jensen, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FNAP is the 2025-2026 awardee of the Sadler Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series.

Gail M. Jensen, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FNAP

Dr. Jensen is Vice Provost for Learning and Assessment, Dean Emerita, and Professor of Physical Therapy and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Medical Humanities at Creighton University. She is known nationally and internationally for scholarly contributions in expert practice, clinical reasoning, professional ethics, and interprofessional education. Dr. Jensen is author or coauthor of over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has coauthored 15 books including Educating Physical Therapists, Clinical Reasoning and Decision Making in Physical Therapy and in 2025, the fifth edition of Clinical Reasoning in the Health Professions. She led the research team that completed a National Study of Excellence and Innovation in Physical Therapist Education funded by the American Physical Therapy Association and several APTA components. Key recommendations included the critical need to develop more education researchers in the profession and the development of continuum of professional performance standards as seen in competency-based education. Dr. Jensen has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of Grant Writing and Mentorship in Education Research (GAMER) national initiative in physical therapy, now in its fifth year. She is a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association, a Distinguished Scholar fellow in the Physical Therapy Academy of the National Academies of Practice. She is immediate past chair of the APTA’s Ethics and Judicial Committee. Dr. Jensen received her PhD in educational evaluation with a minor in sociology from Stanford University. She holds a master’s degree in physical therapy from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Minnesota.