Commitment and Mentorship

Associate Dean of Outreach Susanne Bruyère, director of the Employment and Disability Institute, is being honored in San Antonio, Texas, today at the annual conference sponsored by the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology and the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology of the American Psychological Association.

Bruyère is slated to receive the Wright-Dembo Award, named after Beatrice Wright and Tamara Dembo, pioneers in the study of the social psychology of disability.

The award is presented to acknowledge an individual's work and the work's contributions to the field of rehabilitation psychology.

In a communication to Bruyère, conference program chair Michelle Meade said the award is being made to "recognize all the work you have done in the area of employment and on behalf of individuals with disabilities, your commitment to the division, and the mentorship that you readily offer."

Meade is associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a faculty member in the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan.

Rehabilitation psychology, according to conference organizers, is "a specialty area within psychology that focuses on the study and application of psychological knowledge and skills on behalf of individuals with disabilities and chronic health conditions."

The focus of this year’s conference is "Translating Research into Practice."

Bruyère, a disability studies professor, will give the Wright-Dembo Award lecture at the conference on "An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Workplace Factors Impacting Employment Outcomes for People with Disabilities."

Bruyère is project director and co-principal investigator of numerous federally-sponsored research, dissemination and technical assistance efforts focused on employment and disability policy and effective workplace practices for people with disabilities.

Her research projects include the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy National Technical Assistance, Policy and Research Center for Employers on Employment of People with Disabilities, and the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employer Practice to Improve Employment Outcomes for Persons with Disabilities funded by the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research.