Faculty Directory

The School of Health and Wellness at George Brown College brings together industry leaders to shape program and course content. Many of the faculty at the college are still active in their industries today, so they combine day-to-day working realities with academic theories and approaches. We take pride in hiring teachers that are well respected and offer students excellent instruction, industry mentorship and provide valuable additions to their professional networks.

Address: Room 601, Waterfront Campus, Daphne Cockwell Centre for Health Sciences, 51 Dockside Drive

Faculty Members

FACULTY BIOS

Jennifer Donnelly

MADS, BCBA: Jennifer has received her Master of Applied Disability Studies from Brock University and is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. She has worked with individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities since 1999, utilizing the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis with a special emphasis on Verbal Behaviour. She has experience working with a wide range of learners providing consultation and instruction. Jennifer has been with George Brown College since 2009 where she began part time before moving to a full-time position. In addition, she is an associate of Motivation Matters Inc. and also has clinical private practice where she provides workshops and consultative services to families, private ABA centres and schools in Canada, USA, and abroad.

Ken Hamilton, BST, St. Lawrence College, BA Ryerson University, M.Ed., OISE, University of Toronto. Board Certified Behaviour Analyst

Ken is an experienced practitioner, teacher and a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA). He has 20 years of direct application in applied behaviour analysis, behaviour therapy, and behavioural consultation with a variety of special populations. Currently, he is a Professor (Autism and Behavioural Science, and Behavioural Science Technology) in the School for Health Sciences at George Brown College. His clinical and research interests include developmental disability, behavioural systems for residential living and working with people with particularly challenging behaviours as well as training others in the methods of doing so.

Amy Richardson

Amy Richardson, a Certified Prosthetist, is a full time faculty member of the Prosthetic and Orthotic Programs (S407 &S102) at George Brown College. A graduate of the Prosthetic Orthotic Clinical Methods program herself, Amy has taught part-time since 2009 prior to moving into a full-time role in 2014.

When not at George Brown, Amy continues to practice at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, where she is a member of a multidisciplinary team providing clinical prosthetic treatment to both pediatric and adult clients. Prior to her time at Holland Bloorview, she was on staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in a similar role.

Amy holds a Masters of Science in Rehabilitation from McMaster University (2014) and an Honors Bachelors of Science (Kinesiology) from the University of Western Ontario (2007). As a component of her Masters degree, Amy published a Systematic Review focusing on the Prosthetic User's Individual Experience with Prosthetic Liners.

Amy volunteers her time with provincial and national professional organizations and is currently a Director with ISPO Canada (October 2015) and is the chair of the Residency and Internship Committee with Orthotics Prosthetics Canada. Amy continues to participate in research, act as a peer reviewer, and present at conferences and workshops to help further enhance the Prosthetic and Orthotic field.

Gordon Ruder

Gordon is an experienced Orthotist and Co-ordinator of the Prosthetic and Orthotic Program at George Brown College for the past 25 years. A graduate of the Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinical Methods program himself, Gordon has taught full time at George Brown and as a lecturer with the Toronto Rehab Institute. He has focused his career on the relationship between education, research and the technical and clinical aspects of orthotic practice, with a strong focus on evidence-based research.

When not teaching, Gordon has practiced at Boundless Biomechanical Bracing, with a strong focus on the lower limb orthotic management of pediatric cases with developmental disorders. He also practiced at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where he saw adult orthotic clients.

Gordon received both his Bachelors and Masters of Science from the University of Waterloo, graduating with an Honours Biology (1987) and Biomechanics (1989), which resulted in the publication of several significant papers on human gait and balance control.

Gordon has contributed at the national level serving the Canadian Board for Certification of Prosthetists and Orthotists as Chief Orthotic Examiner and was awarded a Fellowship for his contribution to his field. Internationally, he has contributed to publications educationally and professionally and has presented workshops and conferences globally to further show how devices and research are used in the field. With the recent addition of the Gait Lab at the Sunnybrook campus, clinically and technically applied P&O research is being done to enhance curriculum and further improve patient care.

Robert Stromer, Ph.D., BCBA-D

During the first 3.5 decades of his career, Robert was a school psychologist, educational consultant and program co-ordinator, mental health clinician, university teacher, and researcher. Published accounts of his work are mostly about research on stimulus control and derived performances in humans. He served on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst, and was both a board member and an associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. For the last 12 years, Robert's been teaching in George Brown College's behavioural science programs for undergraduates: he also supervised services for a classroom of children with autism. In areas of personal and professional development, his current interests concern matters of medical and health care, self-management, treatment adherence, behavior therapy, and today's mindfulness-based therapies and self-help practices. He maintains an ambitious program of self-experimentation on matters of health and wellness, coaches others in such practices, and pursues advanced studies and teacher certifications in mindfulness meditation and compassion. Going forward he hopes to share lessons learned from self-help investigations with college students, parents, and colleagues, and with peers who are enjoying old age as best they can.