West Virginia University faculty member Edward C. Keller, Jr. has been recognized nationally for his decades of work improving educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
Keller was recently presented with the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award by Science Education for Students with Disabilities (SESD), an affiliate of the National Science Teachers Association.
The SESD is a nationwide organization which promotes the teaching of science and the development of curricula and instructional materials for students at all levels, with any manners of disability in the learning process.
The award is presented to one outstanding individual each year, said SESD president-elect Laureen Summers.
Ed is much loved by many, many people,Summers said.Hes done a lot of innovative work over the years for students with disabilities.
Keller, professor emeritus in the Department of Biology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, was presented with a plaque which says,In recognition and gratitude for exemplary and selfless service toward improving science education access for all students.
Dr. Keller has made major contributions to provide opportunities for students with disabilities who are interested in science,said Jonathan Cumming, chair of WVU s Department of Biology.He has a long history and career integrating activities in biology with specialized educational approaches aimed at enriching the lives of students with disabilities. His work has kept WVU at the forefront of these endeavors and has improved countless lives.
Its a feeling of happiness; it recognizes that I have been using my time well, and not wasting it,Keller said of the award and his lifes work.This is really about all of us working together to improve educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
Keller knows what it means to be disabled. He has been disabled most of his life: polio at age 17, diabetes in his mid-40s, retinopathy in his early 50s, arterial sclerosis in his early 60s (involving a five-way heart bypass) and most recently, a right-brain stroke, which put him permanently in a wheelchair.
Yet none of these challenges has stopped the WVU professor from his mission of improving educational access for students with disabilities and helping disabled children get to college.
Keller continues to teach a biology course and manages a Web site, Inclusion in Science Education for Students with Disabilities, to give parents and educators strategies to teach children with a variety of abilities. The site can be accessed athttp://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/.
Keller graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a bachelors in agronomy and a masters and doctorate in genetics and breeding. He completed post-doctoral work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and taught at the University of Maryland. Keller worked in the space program in California as a co-investigator on the Biosatellite II experiment at the Nuclear Utilities Services Corporation, before coming to WVU in 1968 as chair of the Department of Biology.
In the late 1960s, Keller noticed what seemed to be too few students with disabilities attending college. He began working to change that.
His achievements in this endeavor are many. At WVU , he began to work on a more effective educational approach for science education of students with disabilities. Keller obtained funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support summer programs in marine science for disabled students.
He also served the West Virginia Department of Education as their coordinator for equity and access on two NSF grants totaling $9 million for equal accessibility of science and mathematics education in the public school system.
In addition, Keller was second chair on the West Virginia delegation to the White House Conference on Persons with Disabilities. He is also past president of the West Virginia Academy of Science, Science Education for Students with Disabilities Association and Foundation for Science and Disability.
He co-authored the 1990 NSF report,Science and Engineering Education for Students with Disabilities,and served as a member of all the focus groups on disability aspects of the National Science Educational Standards, conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.
Keller has been honored with WVU s Neil S. Bucklew Social Justice Award and the 2004 Eberly College Outstanding Public Service Award. He has also been inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities in Columbus, Ohio, and was elected to Fellow rank by the worlds largest scientific organization, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 1998, the 56,000-member National Science Teachers Association presented Keller with their Distinguished Service Award.
For more information, contact Keller at 304-293-5201, ext. 31513 or ekeller@mail.wvu.edu .