AUCD Welcomes John Tschida as Associate Executive Director for Research and Policy

February 27, 2017

  http://www.aucd.org/template/person.cfm?person_id=532

The Executive Director of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Andrew Imparato, announced today that John Tschida has been hired as the Associate Executive Director for Research and Policy.

Mr. Tschida was most recently the director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) for the past three years. At NIDILRR, he oversaw a $104 million budget and 31 employees. He was responsible for the issuing and monitoring of grants to generate new knowledge and promote their effective use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to perform activities of their choice in their communities as well as expand society's capacity to provide full opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with disabilities.

At NIDILRR, John successfully transferred the agency from the U.S. Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also led the agency in the development of a long-range strategic plan to prioritize disability research, and chaired the U.S. government's Interagency Committee on Disability Research (ICDR).

Prior to his director role at NIDILRR, John was the director of public policy and innovation at Allina Health Systems in Minneapolis, the Vice President for public affairs and research at the Courage Center (also in Minneapolis), and a research fellow at the National Rehabilitation Hospital Research Center in Washington, DC.

John has a Masters in Public Policy with a Health Services Research and Policy Certificate from Georgetown University. He completed his undergraduate work at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

John fills the position most recently held by Michael Gamel-McCormick who is moving to the U.S. Senate to be the Disability Policy Director in the office of Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.