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          National Council on Disability
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National Council on Disability welcomes new Council Member Friday, October 16, 2020
 
 **For Immediate Release** Oct. 16, 2020 **WASHINGTON —** The National Council on Disability (NCD) – an independent federal agency – welcomes the appointment of Rick Rader, MD, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the Council. Dr. Rader was appointed to NCD by President Donald J. Trump. He took the oath of office on Oct. 15 and began his term as an NCD Council Member at that time. He joins Chairman Neil Romano, Vice Chairman Jim Brett, and Council Members Billy Altom, Jim Baldwin, Rabia Belt, Andrés Gallegos, Daniel Schreck and Mary Vought. Appointments to NCD are made by the President of the United States, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and the House Minority Leader pursuant to section 451 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (Pub. L. 113–128). **Biography of Rick Rader, M.D.:** **Dr. Rick Rader** is a physician cross-trained in internal medicine and medical anthropology. He is board certified in Developmental Medicine. He is the Director of the Habilitation Center at the Orange Grove Center where he is responsible for the identification, initiation and evaluation of innovative medical delivery systems for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the life span. He is President of the American Association on Health and Disability and a founding member and past President of the American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry. He serves as the Editor in Chief of Exceptional Parent Magazine and has published over 300 articles in the area of health and disability. He is a member of the Executive Council at Friends of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities as well as a Emeritus Advisor on Healthcare Innovations at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was the first appointed Special Liaison for Family Health Concerns at the Presidents Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. He is the National Medical Director at the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals as well as a Member of the Global Medical Advisory Committee at Special Olympics International. He has served as an advisor to six former U.S. Surgeons General in the area of health and disability. He was elected as a Distinguished Practitioner by the National Academy of Practice in Medicine. **About the National Council on Disability (NCD):** First established as a small advisory Council within the Department of Education in 1978, NCD became an independent federal agency in 1984. In 1986, NCD recommended enactment of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and drafted the first version of the bill which was introduced in the House and Senate in 1988. Since the ADA became law in 1990, NCD has continued to play a leading role in crafting policy solutions, and in advising the President, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policies, programs, and practices. ###


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          National Council on Disability