NARRTC Distinguished Service, Commendation & Special Contribution Awards
Previous Honorees
Distinguished Service
The Distinguished Service Award is the highest recognition conferred by NARRTC. This award is given to individuals who have made impressive contributions to the field of disability through research, teaching, service, knowledge translation, or advocacy. The Distinguished Service Award is generally given for sustained contributions or an accumulation of life-time achievements. Previous honorees:
- Senator Thomas Harkin, 1991
- Congressman Steve Gunderson, 1993
- Senator Robert S. Dole, 1995
- Katherine Seelman, 2000
- James Budde, 2002
- Marcus Fuhrer, 2003
- Frederick E. Menz, 2004
- Frank Corrigan, 2004
- Ruth Brannon, 2008
- Jerry Parker, 2008
- David B. Gray, 2010
- Arthur M. Sherwood, 2012
- James S. Krause, 2012
- Dennis C. Moore, 2013
- Peter Blanck, 2015
- Glen White, 2015
- Susanne Bruyere, 2016
- Tom Seekins, 2016
- John Westbrook, 2016
- Judith Heumann, 2017
- Joseph Lane, 2018
- K. Charlie Lakin, 2019
- Lex Frieden, 2019
- Senator Patty Murray, 2020
- Robert “Bobby” Silverstein, 2020
- Senator Bob Casey, 2023
- Michael Morris, 2023
- Corey Moore, 2023
Commendation
Commendations are awarded by NARRTC for research, teaching, service, knowledge translation, or advocacy in the field of disability for specific, focused activities or achievements. Commendations recognize important contributions that strategically or creatively advance the field and/of disability. Previous honorees:
- Samuel Stover, 1995
- Joseph Fenton, 1995
- William Fowler, 1995
- Byron Hamilton, 1995
- Paul Ackerman, 2000
- Betty Jo Berland, 2000
- Daniel C. McAlees, 2000
- John D. Kemp, 2003
- Congressman James Langevin, 2003
- Judith Cook, 2004
- Corinne Kirchner, 2004
- Glen White, 2004
- Margaret Campbell, 2005
- Marianne Farkas, 2005
- June Isaacson Kailes, 2005
- Richard Melia, 2006
- Mitch LaPlante, 2007
- Tom Seekins, 2007
- Ellen Blasiotti, 2008
- Fabricio E. Balcazar, 2009
- Andrew J. Imparato, 2009
- Kurt Johnson, 2010
- J. Scott Richards, 2011
- Steven Haley (Posthumously), 2012
- Suzanne Groah, 2012
- Craig Ravesloot, 2014
- Bonnie Gracer (Posthumously), 2016
- Robin Jones, 2017
- John Stone, 2017
- Cherie Takemoto, 2017
- Joann Starks, 2018
- Renáta Tichá, 2019
- Alo Dutta (Posthumously), 2020
- Brian Abery, 2020
- Monika Mitra, 2021
- Shelley Reeves, 2021
- NIDILRR-funded Researchers, Fellows, and Staff, 2022
- Pimjai Sudsawad, 2023
- Joseph Caldwell, 2023
Special Contribution
Special Contribution Awards are given for leadership activities and major accomplishments on behalf of NARRTC as an organization. Special Contribution Awards recognize diligence, service, commitment, and leadership in the context of NARRTC organizational affairs or related spheres of activity. Previous honorees:
- Dennis C. Moore, 2003
- Krista Kutash, 2004
- Sally Rogers, 2004
- Nancy Arnold, 2005
- Wayne Gordon, 2006
- Andrew Houtenville, 2008
- Joann Starks, 2010
- Pamela Willits, 2011
- Mark Odum, 2019
Special Recognition
Special Recognition Awards are given by the Board of Directors of NARRTC for contributions made to the field of disability and/or NARRTC membership. Previous honorees:
- Bryan Kemp, 2011
- Donna Nangle, 2012
- John Tschida, 2017
- Kurt Johnson, 2018
- Marianne Farkas, 2018
- Leslie Caplan, 2020
- Wendy Strobel Gower, 2020
- James “Jae” Kennedy, 2020
- Jessica Chaiken, 2021
- The NIDILRR Grantee Community and NARRTC Membership, 2022. In recognition of continued contributions to the fields of disability and rehabilitation research and development despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.