Commentary Emeritus Professor Sylvia Rodger, AM: Australian Occupational Therapy Champion and Visionary Louise Gustafsson, 1 Ted Brown 2 and Carol McKinstry 3 1 School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 2 Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary and Allied Health Care Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne and 3 La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia Introduction Emeritus Professor Sylvia Rodger made a significant contribution to the occupational therapy profession on the local, national and international stage. Starting her career in 1981, she was a clinician working with chil- dren with a variety of issues (including Developmen- tal Coordination Disorder [DCD], Autism Spectrum Disorders [ASD], developmental delay to name a few) and their families, a leading occupational therapy educator, and a researcher who has been instrumental in establishing a national research centre for individu- als living with ASD. In addition, Emeritus Professor Rodger demonstrated expertise in higher education teaching, learning and leadership, as well as mentor- ing and assisting the careers of early academics, edu- cators, researchers and the future generation of occupational therapists. Emeritus Professor Rodger’s work has been recognised by Occupational Therapy Australia, the American Occupational Therapy Associ- ation, the Australian higher education sector, and peak research funding organisations. In this article we will present a broad overview of Emeritus Professor Rodger’s career and accomplishments, highlighting her contributions to the occupational therapy profession both nationally and internationally. A clinical career in occupational therapy From the beginning, Emeritus Professor Rodger was drawn to working with children and their families. Babysitting triplets for pocket money in her youth, it was either a career in occupational therapy or special education. A twelve week placement with a school based occupational therapist reinforced her decision to work in that practice area, knowing that she could make a difference. A memorable moment was when she was encouraging a little girl with Prader Willi Syndrome to get through an obstacle course as part of the motor pro- gram. Struggling to get her body through, Emeritus Pro- fessor Rodger said ‘come on possum’ to which the little girl responded, ‘I am not a possum. I am a little pig.’ She had clearly been told this over an over, struggling with eating and the fridge having to be locked. Another memorable occasion was assisting a six year old boy with motor difficulties learn to ride his bicycle since he stated ‘I want to be able to play with my friends and keep up with them on my bike.’ A satisfying career aspect that developed later in her work with children, was the incorporation of Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) into her practice. Working with children who felt they would never achieve their goals, it was empowering to support each child to identify what was going wrong and how to change it just by being questioned in such a way so as to develop a strategy to try. Emeritus Professor Rodger had a profound impact on her clients. She recalls a time from early in her career when she was working with a man who had a stroke. After ensuring that the home environment was suffi- ciently set up, she asked him if there were any other things he wanted to do. He wanted to write letters again and it was causing him considerable frustration that this was not possible. For months and even after he was discharged from the community health service, he wrote to Emeritus Professor Rodger on a fortnightly basis, grateful that someone had taken the time to assist him to resume this meaningful occupation. A second Louise Gustafsson PhD; Head and Undergraduate Program Director in Occupational Therapy, Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy. Ted Brown PhD, MSc, MPA, BScOT(Hons), GCHPE, OT(C), OTR; Associate Professor & Undergraduate Course Coordinator. Carol McKinstry PhD, GACID; Senior Lecturer Occupational Therapy, HDR Student Coordinator. Correspondence: Louise Gustafsson, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia. Email: l.gustafsson@uq.edu.au © 2017 Occupational Therapy Australia Australian Occupational Therapy Journal (2017) 64 (Suppl. 1), 3–8 doi: 10.1111/1440-1630.12366