Program Directors
Dr.Paul Wehman
Youth and Adolescent Initiatives
Paul Wehman, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports.
Dr. Wehman is Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, with secondary appointments in Special Education and the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling. He pioneered the development of supported employment at VCU in the early 1980s and has been heavily involved in the use of supported employment with people who have severe disabilities. Dr. Wehman is also Director of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Workplace Supports and Chairman of the Division of Rehabilitation Research. Dr. Wehman has written extensive on issues related to transition from school to adulthood and special education as it relates for young adulthood. He has published over 150 articles, 24 book chapters, and authored or edited 33 books. He is a recipient of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation International Awards in Mental Retardation, was a Mary Switzer Fellow for the National Rehabilitation Association in 1985, and has received the Distinguished Service Award from the President's Committee on Employment for Persons with Disabilities in October, 1992. Recently, Dr. Wehman was also named one of the 50 most influential persons in the development of the field of special education, along with people like John F. Kennedy and Helen Keller in the Journal of Remedial and Special Education. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. He has been the Principal Investigator of over 24 million dollars worth of federal grants since being at VCU.
Dr.Brian McMahon
Long-Term Care Programs
Dr. McMahon is a Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling in the Allied Health Division of VCU/MCV, Richmond, Virginia. His Ph.D. is in Rehabilitation Psychology from the University of Wisconsin--Madison. As a health care manager in the 1980s, he developed brain injury rehabilitation programs at various levels of care in several states. A rehabilitation educator for 15 years, Dr. McMahon has authored many publications and books on matters of employment and disability. His primary research interest is in disability policy and implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Dr. McMahon is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (Illinois), Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, and Certified Case Manager. He is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, and a former board member of its Division of Rehabilitation Psychology and the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. He now serves on the Governing Council of the American Counseling Association. Dr. McMahon is also Past-President of the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association, and a recipient of its Career Research Award. In 1995, he was recognized by the National Association of Rehabilitation Professionals in the Private Sector as the Outstanding Rehabilitation Educator of the Year. In 1996, he was selected by the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee Alumni Association to receive its Award for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Iris A. Parham
Family Caregiver Initiatives
Professor, Chair, Department of Gerontology and Executive Director, Virginia Geriatric Education Center
Geriatric and gerontology curriculum development and evaluation (with an emphasis on distance education), geriatric alcoholism and addiction, cognitive development and age-related changes.
Significant training and research support from Administration on Aging (AoA), Health Resources and Services Administration, and private Foundations, including $3 million for the Virginia Geriatric Education Center; numerous scientific publications including books, book chapters, journal articles (many in the area of curriculum development and design), including books on Crisis Intervention with the Elderly (Thomas), Aging Curriculum Content in the Social-Behavioral Sciences (Springer); two curriculum texts published by Greenwood and an additional recent book on Alcoholism and Aging (Greenwood) co-author with Dr. Nancy Osgood and Dr. Helen Wood.
Dr.Marlene Howlette
Long-Term Care Initiatives
Anne Kincaid
Religious Initiatives
Bill Kincaid
Public Policy Initiatives
Suzanne Abramson
Public Policy Initiatives
Vice President, Creative and Client Services, Warner Brothers, Los Angeles, California