Why I Give: Barbara Rider and Fred Sammons

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—After four decades of partnership, Barbara Rider decided it was about time she and Fred Sammons “take the plunge.” So, one evening early last year, she popped the question.

“I was cleaning something off the kitchen floor and already down on one knee,” she jokes. “I figured, I might as well ask him.”

Although the proposal came as a surprise, the love Rider and Sammons share—for one another, for the field of occupational therapy (OT) and for WMU—has always been undeniable.

Partners in life and progress

With more than a century of combined experience between them, this couple’s love story is intertwined with a passion for helping others gain greater independence and dignity through occupational therapy. Rider and Sammons have dedicated their lives to the profession and nurturing the next generation of OT practitioners through their philanthropic giving to Western.

After earning his OT degree at Virginia Commonwealth University on the GI Bill, Sammons landed a job at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where he went on to serve as the director of occupational therapy. His creativity and intuitive sense of what his patients needed led to his first business venture.

What began as a mail order company in 1958 grew to become the “Sears catalog” for occupational therapists. Founder of Sammons Preston (now Performance Health), Sammons’ work in creating adaptive equipment made activities of daily living more accessible for countless individuals. During his career, he invented more than 100 gadgets to empower people with disabilities, including his famous button hook that enables one-handed buttoning.

WMU’s Department of Occupational Therapy awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1993, and in 2017, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) named Sammons one of the 100 most influential people in OT. Reflecting on his career, he says with a shrug, “I just had a knack for figuring out how to do things.”

Meanwhile, Rider joined WMU in 1976 as chair of the OT department and held that position for 10 years. Before teaching at Western, she was on the faculty in the OT department at the University of Kansas as well as served as director of occupational therapy at the Veterans Administration Hospital and Kapper Foundation for Crippled Children in Topeka, Kansas.

Highlights of her impactful, discovery-driven career include research in sensory integration and developmental reflexes as well as a nationally recognized study on airline peanut bags that prompted reformed packaging standards. One of the first occupational therapists to champion research and evidence-based practice in education, Rider won the Lindy Boggs Award in 2003. Awarded annually by the AOTA, this recognition honors lifetime achievements in political advocacy for occupational therapy.

Along with their shared field, their mutual respect for each other’s work is ultimately what brought Rider and Sammons together. When Rider was asked by MLive about changing her name after their January 2024 wedding at West Hills Athletic Club, Sammons jumped in before she could respond.

“Oh, no, she’s famous,” he said of his bride.

Strong Bronco bonds

Both Rider and Sammons have strong ties to Western. She started the longstanding Rider Colloquium, an annual event that features lectures and sessions led by prominent OT educators and practitioners. The two also pledged one of the largest gifts ever to an OT program in the country in 2011, paving the way for the WMU Sammons Center for Innovation and Research in Occupation-based Technology and the development of the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. This open-access, online scholarly journal has reached about 1.25 million downloads worldwide and published more than 600 papers.

“Whether it’s financial support or your time or expertise,” Sammons adds, “I think you should share what you have.”

Most recently, a transformational planned gift from Rider and Sammons inspired Western to rename its occupational therapy assistant program (OTA) in their honor. This gift provides lasting support for the program and students pursuing an OTA degree, ensuring the Sammons-Rider legacy in occupational therapy and at WMU endures.

The OTA program further expands opportunities for Broncos pursuing careers in occupational therapy. As part of the Sammons Rider Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, students complete a baccalaureate project before graduation. During that project, they gain in-depth experience in administration, advocacy, clinical practice skills, education or leadership, setting them up for success and apart from their competitors with associate degrees.

Since 1922, WMU’s OT program, now comprising the OTA bachelor’s program and doctorate in OT, has been a leader and innovator in the field. Graduates are making significant contributions throughout the nation and world. “Western’s occupational program is one of the oldest and most respected. It just seemed natural for us to give back to the place that gave us and gives others so much,” Rider says. 

“Our hope is to help all those we can live life to the fullest,” she continues, “and that people who read this story learn how important occupational therapy is and how much the field has grown and continues to grow.” ■