H. Rutherford Turnbull III

Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor

rud@ku.edu

Beach Center on Disability
3111 Haworth Hall
1200 Sunnyside Drive
Lawrence KS 66045

Telephone: 785 864 7610

Fax: 785 864 5825

Academic Department

Special Education

Research Specialty

Disability Policy (my research, teaching, and advocacy entail approximately 18 different domains of disability policy)

Awards

• The Century Award for Changing the Course of History in the Field of Mental Retardation and Related Developmental Disabilities during the 20th Century
• Gene A. and Gretchen Budig Teaching Professor in Special Education, 2005-6
• FLeadership and public service/advocacy awards from The University of Kansas School of Education; American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; The Arc (Association for Retarded Citizens); Council for Exceptional Children; Camphill Association of North America; and others.

Professional Memberships

• American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (President, 1985-6)
• Senior officer or director/trustee: The Arc (1981-83), The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (1987-90); American Bar Association Commission on Mental and Physical Disability (1990-95, chairman, 1992-95)
• Board of Trustees, Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Washington, DC (member, 1995-2007, and Chairman, 2000-2005)

Degrees

• BA, political science, 1959, Johns Hopkins University
• Ll.B., 1964, University of Maryland Law School
• Ll.M., 1969, Harvard University Law School

For More Information

• The Beach Center

Why Study at the University of Kansas

In the field of intellectual and related developmental disabilities, The University of Kansas is one of the world’s leading research and training institutions. The Department of Special Education’s doctoral program is ranked as one of the top two in the country, and the Life Span Institute’s Mental Retardation Research Center is one of the nation’s premier research centers. The Beach Center on Disability is affiliated with both of those units. Within this structure, a graduate student has the opportunity to study and conduct research with international superstars.

Graduates of the doctoral programs in disability studies secure positions as faculty or research-staff at tier-one and tier-two universities, as senior to mid-level staff in federal and state executive and legislative policy-making agencies, and as administrators of state and local service-delivery or advocacy programs.

As the father of two daughters who received (with highest honors) their undergraduate and graduate degrees at The University of Kansas, I can testify that graduate and undergraduate students can obtain a first-rate education if the student has intellectual curiosity, is self-reliant and politely assertive in seeking the mentorship of the faculty, manifests directness of purpose in the academic domains, and simplifies life so as to develop extra-curricular activities that complement the academic curriculum while not being diverted too easily into the abundant social opportunities that the university and community offer.