FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Richard T. Roessler, University Professor emeritus of rehabilitation education and research at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded the National Distinguished Service Award from the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association.

The award was established to recognize unusual or significant professional or technical achievement on a national basis in the field of rehabilitation counseling and services for people with disabilities.

A former student nominated Roessler for the award, citing Roessler's dedication to his students, and Tom Smith, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, wrote a letter in support of the nomination. Smith said there is no doubt Roessler deserved the award.

"His commitment to the field of rehabilitation counseling is unequaled," Smith wrote. "His success in the area of scholarship is at the top of the profession. And, his unselfish dedication to individuals with disabilities is beyond comparison."

For Roessler, the award caps a 39-year career during which the University of Arkansas rehabilitation education and research program has been ranked No. 15 nationally among graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report for nearly a decade. During that time, he won two other national awards, the Distinguished Career Award in Rehabilitation Education from the National Council on Rehabilitation Education and the James F. Garrett Award for a Distinguished Career in Rehabilitation from the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association.

Penny Willmering, president of the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association, presented the most recent award to Roessler at an annual training symposium in Oklahoma City, acknowledging his multiple accomplishments.

"This award is the highest honor bestowed on any individual by the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association," Willmering said. "There is no person more deserving than Rick Roessler, an individual who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of persons with disabilities. His dedication and passion are unparalleled and his contributions to the field are long-lasting and significant."

Roessler is the co-author of two textbooks widely used in graduate education, Foundations of the Vocational Rehabilitation Process and Case Management and Rehabilitation Counseling, and a comprehensive life skills curriculum, Life-Centered Career Education, which is used in special education programs throughout the country.

Roessler retired June 30 but maintains an office on campus to continue conducting research and working with students. He has received several grants from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to study ways to encourage people with MS to return to work after diagnosis. His recent research addresses employment discrimination experiences and reasonable accommodation needs of people with severe chronic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis.

In a magazine interview published in 2008 about his research on multiple sclerosis, Roessler offered his simple philosophy about the rehabilitation field.

“We are all just temporarily able-bodied to some extent, I think,” Roessler said. “When we see an opportunity to be helpful to someone, to empathize with their situation, it helps us all.”

During his time as a professor at the University of Arkansas, Roessler also secured funding for long-term training grants through the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Education that allowed many graduate students to pursue careers in rehabilitation. Several graduates of the program direct human-service agencies in Arkansas and elsewhere.