ABOUT The Swedish Institute

Through the years, the Swedish Institute has expanded and evolved as times changed 1916 – Students received 1,666 hours of training in physiotherapy, 666 of which were spent in hospitals. Graduates were given a license to practice by New York City. 1926 – Lillian F. Phillips, a 1926 graduate of the program, became an assistant to the school's founder, Captain Theodore Melander. She later became Director of the school, a position she held until the late 1960's. The library is named in honor of her stewardship of the school for over forty years. 1954 – State legislation transferred the training of physical therapists to the college level. The Swedish Institute elected to keep its focus on massage therapy. 1966 – Patricia J. Eckardt, niece of Lillian Phillips, assumed leadership of the school as its Administrative Director. The Eckardt familyâ€�Patricia, followed by her daughters Paula Eckardt and Jean Eckardtâ€�would continue in a leadership role for the next forty-four years