Peter Blanck Joins National Organization on Disability Board; Iowa Law Professor is a Leading Authority on Disability Law

5/17/2004

From: Brewster Thackeray of the National Organization on Disability, 202-955-6327 or Thackeray@nod.org

WASHINGTON, May 17 -- Peter Blanck, Ph.D., J.D., Charles M. & Marion Kierscht professor of Law at the University of Iowa and the director of that University's Law, Health Policy and Disability Center, has been named to the Board of Directors of the National Organization on Disability, N.O.D. Board Chairman Michael R. Deland announced at a recent Board meeting in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Blanck is lead author of Disability Civil Rights Law and Policy, a newly published treatise that covers the history, development and details of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability law and legislation.

The Law, Health Policy & Disability Center ( http://disability.law.uiowa.edu ) is a leader in law, technology, education and research focused on improving the quality of life for persons with disabilities. Based at the University of Iowa College of Law, with offices in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, the Center concentrates on public policy and its impact on persons with disabilities, emphasizing employment, technology, and self- sufficiency.

Dr. Blanck has written more than 100 articles and books on the ADA, received grants to study disability law and policy, represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, and testified before Congress. He was a member of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Washington Program. He has been a Commissioner on the American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, chair of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Standards in Research, President of the American Association on Mental Retardation's Legal Process and Advocacy Division, a Fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and a Mary Switzer Scholar.

Dr. Blanck practiced law at the Washington D.C. firm Covington & Burling and was a law clerk to the late Honorable Carl McGowan of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was President of the Stanford Law Review.

"Peter Blanck has long been a highly valued friend and resource for the National Organization on Disability and the entire disability community. We look forward to incorporating his wisdom and insights in our work," said Deland. "He is a true authority on the laws that help Americans with disabilities fully participate in and contribute to American life."

"The civil rights movement for America's 54 million citizens with disabilities has been enhanced significantly by two decades of dedicated work by the National Organization on Disability. I am honored to join the board of this important national group and to help it continue to grow and succeed in its mission," Dr. Blanck said.

The National Organization on Disability promotes the full and equal participation and contribution of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. Please visit http://www.nod.org.