April 14, 2006

Nancy Marlett to present annual Renzaglia lecture

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Nancy J. Marlett, director of Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at the University of Calgary, will deliver the annual Guy A. Renzaglia Lecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale next week.

The lecture, sponsored by the Rehabilitation Institute in the University's College of Education and Human Services, begins at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 18, in the Student Center Auditorium. In addition, 17 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students will receive scholarships and awards in ceremonies at the event. Admission is free.

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Media Advisory

Reporters and photographers are welcome to cover the lecture and awards ceremonies and may interview Marlett after the lecture. For more information, contact professor John J. Benshoff at 618/536-7704.

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Marlett's lecture is "Constructing Rehabilitation and Recovery Alliances: Academics, Professionals and Consumers," said professor John J. Benshoff, who coordinates the University's nationally recognized Rehabilitation Counselor Training Program.

Marlett is also the international representative to the National Council on Rehabilitation Education. A lecturer across the United States and Canada, Marlett "is widely known for her work in the area of disability studies," said Benshoff.

Marlett's research focuses on looking at ways to bring together three groups – people who need services, practitioners and academics, "so that we fully understand the issues and problems and work together to generate solutions," Benshoff said.

The Rehabilitation Institute already places an emphasis on cross-collaboration involving those three groups, Benshoff said.

"That has been the emphasis of the work we have done here for many, many years," he said.

Marlett provides an international perspective with experience in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Benshoff noted that the service delivery model in the United States is different than in Canada, where more socialized medicine and different training levels are in place.

The Rehabilitation Institute is the oldest and most comprehensive rehabilitation education program in the country. The Institute offers two bachelor's degrees, two master's degrees and a doctoral degree.

U.S. News and World Report ranks the rehabilitation counseling program third nationally, and the behavior analysis and therapy program will receive the "Enduring Contribution to the Field of Behavior Analysis Award" next month from the Association for Behavior Analysis.

The lecture, which began in 1978, honors Guy A. Renzaglia, founder and retired director of the Rehabilitation Institute. Renzaglia headed the Institute, founded in 1955, for 23 years.

Renzaglia, now 88, retired from the University in 1981 after serving two years as director of the University's Touch of Nature Environmental Center.

Developing citizen-leaders with global perspectives is among the goal of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.