Dean Receives National Award from Council for Exceptional Children

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Tom Smith

Tom Smith, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, received the 2013 Burton Blatt Humanitarian Award from the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Smith, who holds the rank of University Professor of special education, has written extensively about special education topics and is the author of textbooks used in education programs. In 1992, President Clinton appointed him to the President's Committee on Mental Retardation; he was reappointed for two additional terms.

Smith has authored or co-authored 26 books, eight book chapters and 35 journal articles. He has made more than 200 presentations at national, regional and state professional meetings, and he has conducted workshops on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in more than 40 states. He has also authored grants funded at more than $1 million. Since 1994, Smith has served as the executive director of the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children, a national, professional organization with more than 6,000 members.

The Burton Blatt award honors a member of the division who has exerted exceptional effort in furthering the cause of people with cognitive disabilities, mental retardation, autism and related disabilities. Blatt (1927-1985) was a pioneer in humanizing services for people with mental retardation. He was dean of the School of Education at Syracuse University, where the Burton Blatt Institute is located.