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Steven Eidelman named first Edelsohn Chair
Timothy K. Barnekov, dean of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy, said Eidelman was selected after a national search that attracted many highly qualified applicants. The endowed position, located in the college’s Department of Individual and Family Studies, was established last year to focus education, research and awareness on the issues involving services to adults with disabilities. “We’re very enthusiastic about having Steve Eidelman join us as the Robert Edelsohn Chair,” Barnekov said. “We think his background and his extensive network of connections around the country will greatly enhance our work with adults with disabilities and our service to those adults.” Eidelman, who for six years has served as the chief executive officer of the primary national organization of and for people with cognitive and related developmental disabilities, said he welcomed the opportunity to use his experience in developing a new generation of leaders in the field. At UD, he said, such units as the Department of Individual and Family Studies, Center for Disabilities Studies and School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy offer academic courses and services that will be valuable to students focusing on adults with developmental disabilities. “There are very few programs anywhere that are oriented toward adults,” Eidelman said. “At the University of Delaware, you’ve got everything that you could possibly want for this type of program, and you’ve got an administration that’s committed to developing it. I’ve been very impressed by the faculty and the bright and capable students I’ve met there, and I’m excited about working with them.” Michael Gamel-McCormick, who chaired the search committee for the position, said members of the committee and community members who met Eidelman were impressed by his connections with leaders and organizations around the country. Gamel-McCormick is a professor of individual and family studies and the director of the Center for Disabilities Studies, where Eidelman will focus much of his work. The connections Eidelman has established in his career, Gamel-McCormick said, will benefit UD’s program in such ways as attracting top graduate students and then placing them in internships with key organizations. In addition, the search committee felt Eidelman thoroughly understands, not only national policy issues involving disabilities, but also the personal situations of people with developmental disabilities and their families, Gamel-McCormick said. “He’s not a traditional academician, and that’s good,” he said. “We think he can be a real catalyst to gather people together and to spark new ideas.” “The Edelsohn Chair was established to combine teaching, research and public service,” Provost Dan Rich said. “Steve Eidelman will bring all those elements together in developing a strong program that will benefit our students and the community.” The Edelsohn Chair was established by Lanny and Micki Edelsohn of Wilmington, Del., and named for their son Robert, who has developmental disabilities. Six years ago, Micki Edelsohn established a foundation to build and furnish neighborhood group homes, each of which houses four adults with disabilities and a caregiver. More recently, she said, she and Gamel-McCormick were discussing the issue of expanding those kinds of services and improving research and education for people working in the disabilities field. That discussion led her and her husband to create the Edelsohn Chair and raise the funds to endow it. The foundation also has built a group home on South College Avenue, adjacent to the UD campus, with a second home under construction on nearby Cleveland Avenue. “We are delighted that Steve Eidelman has accepted the position of Edelsohn Chair,” Micki Edelsohn said. “The Center for Disabilities Studies will now be in the vanguard in the field of adult studies. Our hope is that this will serve as a model for other universities.” Eidelman, who will join the University this fall, said he considers the establishment of the Edelsohn Chair to have come “at a very opportune time.” So many senior staff members of nonprofits around the country are nearing retirement age, he said, that training new leaders is more essential than ever. He said he has met many professionals in the field who are working with adults with disabilities and are interested in pursuing a graduate degree, but most have found it difficult to locate programs with that focus. Delaware’s mid-Atlantic location, he said, gives it a large pool of potential students in the region. “The University has all the elements in place to be a real leader in the field,” Eidelman said. He said the location not far from Washington, D.C., also will enable him to continue his involvement in national policy and advocacy issues, while also developing working relationships with governmental and community groups in the state. Eidelman earned his bachelor’s and master of social work degrees from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola College and a post-master’s certificate in social services administration from Temple University. He began his career as a house parent in a Baltimore group home for adolescents and went on to administrative positions at a variety of agencies and foundations. In July 1999, he became executive director of The Arc of the United States, an advocacy group for people with cognitive disabilities and their families, which has more than 900 state and local chapters and 100,000 members. Members of the search committee for the Edelsohn Chair, in addition to Gamel-McCormick, were Donald Unger, professor, and Michael Ferrari, associate professor, both of individual and family studies; Laura Eisenman, associate professor of education; Beverly Stapleford, project leader in the Center for Disabilities Studies; and Alisha Raiford-Hall, training administrator for the Delaware state Division of Developmental Disabilities Services. Article by Ann Manser To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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