Celebrate a Decade of Excellence: The 10^th Sandra Edwards Colloquium

Dr. Sherrilene Classen is Professor and immediate past Chair, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Florida (UF). Dr. Classen, an academic leader, is an internationally funded prevention-oriented rehabilitation scientist with expertise in fitness-to-drive issues in at-risk drivers through the lifespan with content expertise in clinical assessments, driving simulators, on-road assessments, and autonomous vehicles. She has established SmartDriverTM (2017), a clinical driver rehabilitation program at UF, and developed the 14-credit Post-Professional Certificate in Driver Rehabilitation Therapy—with UF being the sole university in the U.S. teaching this program. Dr. Classen applies a public health, rehabilitation science, and clinical perspective to illuminate the depth and breadth of driver rehabilitation as a specialty area. Since 2002, she has received competitive external funding (totaling >$15 million) from U.S. federal agencies, industry, foundations, state departments, and international agencies. She has (co)authored over 230 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and special journal issues; is the editor of a handbook on driving simulation; and has presented over 350 papers at scientific conferences. Dr. Classen is a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association, Gerontological Society of America, an inductee of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s Academy of Research, and past Chair of the National Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists Research Committee (2022-2024).

Dr. Monika Ardelt is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at the University of Florida (UF). She is a Founding Faculty Member and Member of the Advisory Board of the University of Florida Center for Spirituality and Health and a Member of UF Mindfulness. She is a Brookdale National Fellow, a Positive Psychology Templeton Senior Fellow, and a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Ardelt developed the widely used Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS; Ardelt, 2003) and is the co-editor of the book Faith and Well-Being in Late Life: Linking Theories with Evidence in an Interdisciplinary Inquiry (2009). Her research focuses on successful human development across the life course, and she has published numerous articles on the relations between wisdom, flourishing, well-being, spirituality, aging well, and dying well.