Omolara Funmilola Akinpelu, research associate with the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS). Akinpelu’s three-year term begins at the conclusion of June’s board meeting in San Jose, Calif.
She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in special education from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Akinpelu received her Ph.D. in guidance and counseling, with an emphasis on multicultural perspectives of hearing impairment, at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
Prior to joining the BBI, Akinpelu was a visiting research scholar in the deaf and hard of hearing program at York University, Canada. She participated in the Advanced Research Rehabilitation Training (ARRT) at the Center on Human Policy, Law and Disability Studies at SU.
Akinpelu has a strong background in special education in Nigeria. Her research interests are in special education, rehabilitative counseling and disability studies. She is particularly interested in disability policies, human rights of persons with disabilities, gender equality and empowerment of women with disabilities.
She is currently involved in Project EMERGE, one of BBI’s projects with two local community agencies, ARISE and Vera House. The aim of Project EMERGE is to identify specific gaps in service, barriers to safety and accessible support, and system inadequacies for women with disabilities and deaf women who are survivors of domestic and sexual violence. In 2011, she received SU’s Unsung Hero Award for her work on the project.
Roy Gutterman, associate professor of magazine, news and digital journalism and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech in the Newhouse School, was featured in the Quartz article “The ways in which Elon Musk could change Twitter on the inside…
Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of television, radio and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was featured in The Washington Post article “How the Travel Channel became the ghost channel.” The…
Jennifer Karas Montez, University Professor of sociology in the Maxwell School, was featured in the Fast Company story “Liberal policies could have saved 171,030 lives, study finds.” The article highlights a study done by Montez that looked into the continuous…
George Theoharis, professor of educational leadership and inclusive elementary/early childhood education in the School of Education, was interviewed for the CNY Central story “Post-pandemic learning, a new report shows dropping student math, reading scores in CNY.” The story highlights how…
Bei Yu, professor in the iSchool, was interviewed for the PC Mag story “Be Careful What You Post: How to Tell the Difference Between Fact and Fake News.” The article highlights the increase in concern about misinformation during election season,…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
