Graduate dean honored for life's work
Nov. 23, 2003
KALAMAZOO--Dr. William Wiener, dean of the Graduate College at Western Michigan University, recently was named winner of the Jim Neubacher Lifetime Achievement Award by the Disability Resource Center of Southwestern Michigan.
The award honors a person, with or without a disability, who has promoted the needs of people with disabilities over a lifetime. It is named after Neubacher, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, who had a disability and wrote about the needs and civil rights of people with disabilities.
Wiener, former chairperson of blind rehabilitation, now blindness and low vision studies, was selected for dedicating 36 years as an educator in the field of orientation and mobility and blind rehabilitation-29 years in a university setting, 17 of those at WMU.
The organization noted that Wiener has excelled throughout his professional life as a teacher, researcher, leader and volunteer, as well as being a prolific writer in the field of blindness. A textbook Wiener co-edited is acknowledged as the leading work in orientation and mobility in the world.
The award was presented at the organization's annual meeting in October.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu