APTA's new headquarters will feature a state-of-the-art conference facility that can accommodate up to 200 people. And now that space will bear the names to two of the profession's most well-known leaders: Stanley Paris, PT, PhD, FAPTA, and Catherine Patla, PT, DPT.

Patla and Paris are receiving the honor after making a generous donation to APTA's  Campaign for Future Generations. The campaign leverages APTA’s centennial year and naming rights at the new national headquarters to raise funds to support diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The Paris and Patla rooms will be the primary conference center meeting spaces on the top floor of the APTA Centennial Center. APTA plans to use the space for member meetings, professional development seminars, and other events. Windows on the north end of the center look over the Potomac River toward the Washington, D.C., skyline.

"The entire APTA Centennial Center is designed to be a welcoming space for our professional community, and our conference center is at the heart of that concept," said APTA Chief Executive Officer Justin Moore, PT, DPT. "Catherine and Stanley embody the idea of leadership that builds communities, and APTA is proud that our facilities can be associated with their names."

Both Paris and Patla have a long list of achievements in the profession.

Paris played a key role in gaining acceptance of manipulation into the practice of physical therapy, where today it is part of every professional DPT program. He served on APTA’s Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research. Paris became a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA in 2002 and delivered the Mary McMillan Lecture in 2006. In 1979, he founded the Institute of Physical Therapy, which would become the University of St. Augustine, the nation’s first proprietary physical therapy school. In 2017 he received an honorary doctor of laws from his alma mater the University of Otago in New Zealand. He has been an APTA member since 1966.

Patla has been a member of APTA for 45 years and served as a Florida representative to the APTA House of Delegates for more than 23 years. She is a respected expert in orthopedic physical therapy, specializing in peripheral extremities with emphasis in examination and manipulation. She has taught continuing education seminars on this topic for over 43 years and has published unique clinical applications. Patla also served as associate professor at the University of St Augustine, where she was instrumental in the development and teaching of the extremity and clinical thinking courses.  She has served in several roles in the Florida Chapter of APTA including as president.

"We have always believed that physical therapy is an under-appreciated profession which has yet to achieve the recognition it deserves," said Paris. "Medicine and surgery may save lives, but no profession speaks to the quality of those lives as much as does physical therapy. We feel privileged to be able to make this contribution to APTA's Minority Scholarship Fund and to have our names recognized in this way."

Paris and Patla aren't the only ones who will have their names at APTA’s new headquarters. The first 10,000 people to donate at least $10 to the Campaign for Future Generations will have their names included on the APTA community wall on the first floor.

Former APTA president Marilyn Moffat, PT, PhD, FAPTA, also made a generous gift to support the campaign that will be recognized at APTA's new headquarters.

APTA Centennial Center will be certified LEED Silver and receive FitWel’s highest ranking of three stars, signaling it as a workspace that supports human health.