KU names Glen W. White to lead disabilities research and training center

LAWRENCE -- Glen W. White, a powerful force for implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act locally and nationally, has been named director of KU's Research and Training Center on Independent Living. White succeeds James F. Budde, who recently announced his retirement.

People who use wheelchairs, as does White, can thank the new RTC/IL director for helping provide accessibility at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.; Kansas City International Airport -- and even the Dole Human Development Center at KU, where White's office is located.

One day in October 1990, White discovered that the plans for the newly constructed Dole Center included no curb cuts. Dole would house the many disabilities research groups of the Life Span Institute -- including White's own RTC/IL. The ADA, which had been in effect since July of that year, required wheelchair accessibility for public buildings.

White called the KU general counsel and threatened legal action if access ramps were not installed. The cement trucks were recalled, and the ramps were installed.

"Before the ADA, the independent living movement was about the very survival of many people with disabilities who did not have access to employment, housing, transportation or stores," White said. "They often had two choices: being dependent on family members or living in a nursing home."

But even with the ADA and other legal mandates, researchers such as White have had to show, through research as well as advocacy, exactly what it takes for people with disabilities to live independently.

A behavioral scientist with a special interest in community psychology, White believes that everyone can use research to influence private and public policy.

He directed and co-authored the "No Know Way Guide," which explains how to understand and use research, and he co-directs the Get RIIL (Research Information for Independent Living) Web site at http://getriil.org/, which has more than 700 reviews of disability research articles written for laypeople.

White also develops rehabilitation-related products. He and R. Mark Matthews, associate director of KU's Gerontology Center, hold the patent on a device that measures built environments for compliance with ADA guidelines.

Honored in 1999 as an outstanding mentor by Human Development and Family Life graduate students, White's reputation recently brought him one of the first Ford Foundation Fellows from Vietnam, Yen Thi Hoang Vo.

While many people with physical disabilities have realized independence in the past decade, much more needs to be known about how to serve people in developing countries, as well as minority and rural communities in the United States. According to White, the RTC/IL is well prepared.

"Our research group is as diverse as any anywhere," he said. "We live it."

Serving both presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, White was a presidential appointee and board member of the Commission on National and Community Service from 1991 to 1994. There, he advocated for including people with disabilities in the AmeriCorps community service program.

Former director Budde will continue as director emeritus with the center he founded, and he and White will co-direct the Center on Research Information on Independent Living.

"Glen has made outstanding contributions to the independent living field and to our center," Budde said. "I have no doubt that he will maintain a high level of excellence and leadership."

The Research and Training Center on Independent Living is one of the 14 centers and more than 100 programs of KU's Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies. The programs serve both rural and urban Kansans through research-based solutions to the problems of human and community development, disabilities and aging.