Fred Orelove (VA UCEDD) Receives Award of Excellence from VCU School of Education
May 6, 2009
|
| Dr. Fred Orelove is presented the award by Dr. Mary Hermann |
The Award of Excellence is not presented every year. Rather, it is awarded when a faculty member has been identified as having contributed significantly in all areas of faculty responsibility: teaching, scholarship, and service. This year the School of Education Award of Excellence was presented to Dr. Fred Orelove, Professor of Special Education and Disability Policy and Executive Director of VCU's University Center for Excellence, the Partnership for People with Disabilities.
Dr. Orelove has been a tireless advocate for persons with disabilities throughout his career. His philosophy and that of the Partnership is to ensure that individuals with disabilities are included in their communities and have appropriate support to thrive and contribute to the vitality of the communities in which they reside. With more than 20 federal and state programs staffed by more than 100 professionals and students, Dr. Orelove's leadership and influence are far reaching. Nationally, he has served as President of the American Association of University Affiliated Programs and as a member of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. The latter organization presented Dr. Orelove the Meritorious Service Award in 2002 in recognition of his outstanding work as Executive Director of the Partnership.
Dr. Orelove is a scholar. He has published more than 50 scholarly papers and book chapters on topics relevant to children and adults with disabilities. As Executive Director of the Partnership, Dr. Orelove supervises an external funding portfolio of $6-9 million annually. Additionally, Dr. Orelove serves as principal investigator for the "Higher Education Consortium in Severe Disabilities," a grant supported by the Virginia Department of Education. This consortium provides a multi-disciplinary program of study in severe disabilities and serves students at five state universities. Without this program, there would be no academic program in the Commonwealth to prepare students to meet the education needs of students with severe disabilities.
Dr. Orelove is an effective instructor. He regularly teaches in the severe disabilities consortium and delivers instruction through distance learning models as well as the more traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Dr. Orelove also teaches a doctoral level course in disability policy.
Dr. Orelove is also a key contributor in service to the School of Education and to the university. As a testament to his willingness to serve, Dr. Orelove has taken on the role of Interim Chair of the Department of Special Education and Disability Policy through the Spring 2009 semester. He accepted this new appointment without relinquishing any responsibilities from his full-time work as Executive Director of the Partnership. He has served on numerous promotion and tenure committees and served as Chair of the VCU Promotion and Tenure Appeal Committee for two years. He has been active in the Community Solutions Program in the Division of Community Engagement, as chair of the VCU Head Start Governance Board and as a member of the founding committee for a Phi Delta Kappa Chapter at VCU. Above all, Dr. Orelove has served as an advocate for persons with disabilities and has worked very hard to raise awareness for disability accommodation at VCU and in our local community.
One nominator commented, "I can think of no one more deserving of the Award of Excellence than Dr. Fred Orelove. He is an outstanding instructor, a noted scholar in disability education, and a tireless advocate for services to meet the needs of persons with disabilities."
