Elnora M. Gilfoyle

Elnora M. Gilfoyle (born 1934) is a retired American occupational therapist, researcher, educator, and university administrator.

[5] A graduate of Ottumwa High School,[2] she studied home economics at Iowa State University for two years beginning in 1952.

[8] She next moved to the Craig Hospital, where she served as a clinical supervisor in the occupational therapy department, working primarily with patients with spinal cord injuries and brain damage.

[8] In 1964 Gilfoyle was named to a fellowship in child development at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where she worked until 1966.

[1] In 1988,[7] she was appointed assistant dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, and head of CSU's department of occupational therapy.

[1] She held the post of Dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences from 1989 to 1991, and Provost/Academic Vice President of CSU from 1991 to 1995, being the first woman to hold the latter position.

[1][9] The Denver Department of Health tapped Gilfoyle to serve on a research team studying developmentally delayed and abused children.

The authors believed that by combining modifications to the child's environment with subcortical learning, an occupational therapist could assist children with developmental disabilities.

[11] In 1989 AOTA named her as "one of ten individuals nationwide whose contributions have had a significant impact on the practice, education, and research of the profession".