NIDRR Grantees and Staff Receive Recognition

The NCDDR congratulates each of the following NIDRR grantees or staff members. All grantees are encouraged to contact the NCDDR with information to share in future issues of The Research Exchange.

Researchers from the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Mental Retardation <http://www.uic.edu/orgs/rrtcamr/> at the Institute on Disability and Human Development (IDHD), University of Illinois at Chicago, have recently been recognized:

• Glenn Hedman,  coordinator of the IDHD's Assistive Technology Unit, has been honored with a Distinguished Service Award  from the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). In addition, the IDHD's Assistive Technology Unit received the Ameritech and National Council on the Aging Current Innovator Award  for its work in helping older people, young adults and children increase their independence through the use of communication aids.
• Ann McCracken,  Ph.D., R.N.C., Principal Investigator for the RRTC, received the Faculty Research Excellence Award  at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and Health.
• Alison Miller,  Research Associate, received the Leonard Eron Award  for excellence in research and scholarship given to the top Psychology graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• Tia Nelis,  Self-Advocacy Specialist, received five honors. During 1996, she was awarded the President's Committee on Mental Retardation Elizabeth Boggs Award on Leadership and Self-Advocacy , The American Association of University Affiliated Programs' (AAUAP) Leadership and Self-Advocacy Award , and was named the Self- Advocate of the Year  by People First of Illinois. Ms. Nelis was also elected chair of the national self-advocacy movement for persons with developmental disabilities, Self- Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), and President of the Illinois People First Chapter.
• Harvey L. Sterns,  Ph.D., director of the Institute for Life-Span Development at the University of Akron and a Principal Investigator for the RRTC, received the 1996 Distinguished Service Award in Education, Research and Communication , from the Association of Ohio Philanthropic Homes and Housing for the Aging and received the 1996 Dr. Arnold L. Heller Memorial Award for Contribution to the Field of Gerontology , Menorah Park Center for the Aging, Cleveland, Ohio.

For more information, contact Dr. Tamar Heller, Director of the RRTC on Aging with Mental Retardation, at (312) 413-1537  or via e-mail: THeller@uic.edu

The Research and Training Center on Rural Rehabilitation Services
<http://ruralinstitute.umt.edu/> at the University of Montana's Rural Institute on Disabilities has received a special Citation from the Governor of the State of Montana . The Citation was awarded to the RTC on September 1, 1996 "in appreciation of its efforts to support full participation in community life for people with disabilities, through research and training." For more information, contact Dr. Tom Seekins, Principal Investigator, at (406) 243-5467.

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