Prof. Diane Bryen

For more than 40 years, I have worked toward making the goals of independence, productivity, inclusion, and full participation a reality for and with people with disabilities.  As professor of Special Education since 1973 and Executive Director of the Institute on Disabilities, Pennsylvania’s University Center for Excellence since 1992 through to my retirement in June 2008, I have been and continue to be a leader, mentor, advocate, teacher, and researcher. I have served on several statewide, national and international boards, serving as the plaintiffs’ representative on the Gaskin Advisory Panel overseeing the implementation of the Gaskin v. Pennsylvania Department of Education Settlement Agreement.  My work has been widely recognized (i.e., the first annual Temple University Great Teacher’s Award; the 1996 Humanitarian Award from United Cerebral Palsy of Pennsylvania; the ACES Free Speech Now Award in 1992; two leadership awards from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities; the Temple University Stauffer Award for distinguished service in 2006; the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of University Centers on Disability in 2007; the 2008 Gallery of Success at Temple University, Fulbright Specialist to Kolkata, India and Sakhnin, Israel, the Neville Cohen Award in South Africa). I have done work in Israel, South Africa, India, Australia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam with 4 main foci — AAC, criminal justice, inclusive education, and assistive and accessible information and communication technologies. I am currently a Professor Emerita at Temple University, with more than 80 published research articles in refereed journals, 8 books, more than 60 million dollars in research and training grants, and hundreds of national and international presentations.