[rehab] National Rehabilitation Association and Fred Schroeder

[Smyth, Charlene R]

To:        All Members of the National Rehabilitation Association



From:    Patricia Leahy, Interim Executive Director



Re:        NRA Announces New Executive Director



Date:     Monday, April 14, 2014




It is with great pleasure and excitement that the National
Rehabilitation Association announces the selection of The Honorable
Fredric K. Schroeder as NRA's new Executive Director.


Dr. Schroeder has accepted the National Rehabilitation Association's
invitation to join the staff as Executive Director beginning in May of
2014.


Dr. Schroeder earned a BA in Psychology in 1971 and a Master's degree in
Education in 1978 from San Francisco State University and completed
post-graduate work in Orientation and Mobility in 1980.  Dr. Schroeder
is also the first blind individual in the Nation to be admitted to a
university program in Orientation and Mobility.

In 1980, Dr. Schroeder returned to New Mexico to work as a teacher of
blind children for the Albuquerque public schools.


In 1994, Dr. Schroeder earned a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from
the University of New Mexico.


Dr. Schroeder began his career in his home State of New Mexico where in
the early 80s, Dr. Schroeder helped establish the New Mexico Commission
for the Blind.  Beginning in 1986, Dr. Schroeder worked for 7 years as
the first Executive Director of the newly-created Commission for the
Blind.


In 1994, President Clinton announced the appointment of Dr. Schroeder to
be the Ninth Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration
(RSA) in the U.S. Department of Education and in July of 1994 the full
U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment.

In his capacity as Commissioner of RSA, Dr. Schroeder had responsibility
for administering a $2.5 billion program that annually provides
individualized services and supports by highly-skilled rehabilitation
counselors to more than 1 million eligible Americans with disabilities.


Dr. Schroeder had a very active tenure in RSA and one of his many
accomplishments during that time was his founding and implementation of
the National Employment Conference which was directed by him and his
staff and included productive partnerships with businesses and employers
throughout the country.

Through Dr. Schroeder's recognition early on of the importance of
business partnerships, the Employment Conference has endured and
prospered to this day as a conduit for business and employers to connect
with properly-trained Americans with disabilities who want careers and
to live as independently as possible.

Dr. Schroeder serves as an adviser to the National Council of State
Administrators of the Blind (NCSAB) and is an active member of the
National Federation of the Blind (NFB).

Dr. Schroeder is also a Research Professor with the Interwork Institute
at San Diego State University specializing in leadership and public
policy.

Dr. Schroeder is an accomplished scholar with over 50 published articles
and is a nationally and internationally-recognized lecturer on
disability policy.

Dr. Schroeder and his wife Cathy Nusser Schroeder live just outside of
Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia and have two grown children.

On behalf of NRA's 2014 President, Ellen Sokolowski, the 2014 NRA Board
of Directors and all in the National Rehabilitation Association, it is a
pleasure and a privilege to welcome Dr. Schroeder as NRA's new Executive
Director.


Thank you.



Patricia Leahy
Interim Executive Director
Director of Governmental Affairs and Public Policy
National Rehabilitation Association
patricia at nationalrehab.org <mailto:patricia at nationalrehab.org>
www.nationalrehab.org <http://www.nationalrehab.org/>



Fredric K. Schroeder





































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