University of Haifa’s Rimmerman is Visiting Distinguished Professor at Newhouse School, senior fellow of BBI

Me’Shae Rolling
(315) 443-8455

Arie Rimmerman, the Richard Crossman Chair for Social Welfare & Planning and distinguished faculty member in the School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Health Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel, will teach as Visiting Distinguished Professor of Communications on Media and Disability at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and will be a senior fellow at The Burton Blatt Institute: Centers of Innovation on Disability (BBI) at Syracuse University during the Spring 2009 semester.

In fall 2007, Rimmerman was a guest lecturer at The Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life at SU, addressing the topic of “Disability and Israel” for the Fall Lecture Series sponsored by BBI. He has also contributed to BBI’s Distance Learning Series.

“Dr. Rimmerman’s visit to Syracuse University will jumpstart discussion on media and disability, and his work with BBI postdoctoral fellows will importantly advance their research agendas,” says Peter Blanck, University Professor and chairman of BBI. “His visit here continues our collaborations with scholars in Israel and will generate opportunities for multidisciplinary work with many partners.”

Rimmerman is an internationally known researcher in the areas of intellectual disabilities and disability studies. He has published six books and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in Israel, Australia, Europe and the United States. His research focuses on four central areas: families of children with intellectual disabilities, and in particular their decision-making processes through their life cycle; employment issues of people with developmental disabilities; social and civil participation of people with disabilities; and international comparative policies toward people injured in acts of terror.

Founder of the Israeli Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities, Rimmerman established all graduate studies in this area in Israeli universities. Aside from his scientific contributions, he served as an advisor to ministers of labor and welfare in Israel, and leads public committees in developmental disabilities. He is a recipient of a Fulbright Doctoral Student Fellowship (1979), the Lehman Award (1987), the William Trump Award (1998), the International Award of the American Association on Mental Retardation (1999) and the Burton Blatt Distinguished Leadership Award (2006).

In addition to his faculty responsibilities at the University of Haifa, Rimmerman has been a board member of the National Institute for People with Disabilities since 2001 and a chairperson of the Aging Committee of the Social Security Council since 2000. He holds a B.S.W. from the Tel Aviv University School of Social Work, an M.A. from the School of Social Work at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and a Ph.D./D.S.W. from the School of Social Work at Adelphi University/Brandeis University in New York.

Although BBI was established only three years ago as a multidisciplinary research and training center, its influence on the business community and government and nongovernmental organizations worldwide is helping transform civil society. BBI is dedicated to advancing the civic, economic and social participation of persons with disabilities in the United States and in developing countries around the world.

The institute is based at SU and has offices in the District of Columbia, New York City, Atlanta and Tel Aviv. The institute focuses on research, education, training, policy development, technical assistance and outreach regarding disability issues. BBI takes its name from Burton Blatt (1927-85), a pioneer in humanizing services for people with disabilities.

For more information on BBI, visit http://bbi.syr.edu or contact Me’Shae Rolling, director of special events and public relations, at (315) 443-8455 or mrolling@law.syr.edu.