Biography

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Dr. Blanck is University Professor at Syracuse University, which is the highest faculty rank granted to only eight prior individuals in the history of the University. He is chair of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University. Blanck holds appointments at the Syracuse University Colleges of Law, of Human Services and Health Professions, and of Arts and Sciences, School of Education, and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse, Blanck was Kierscht Professor of Law and director of the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa. Blanck has written articles and books on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related laws, received grants to study disability law and policy, represented clients before the U.S. Supreme Court in ADA cases, and testified before Congress. His work has received national and international attention. He is a board member of the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.), Disability Rights Law Center (DRLC), and Disability Rights Advocates (DRA). He is a trustee of YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network. Blanck received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester, a Juris Doctorate from Stanford University, where he was president of the Stanford Law Review, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Blanck is a former member of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Washington Program, a Fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and a Mary Switzer Scholar. Prior to teaching, Blanck practiced law at the Washington D.C. firm Covington & Burling, and served as law clerk to the late Honorable Carl McGowan of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Blanck's books in the area include: The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Emerging Workforce (AAMR, 1998); Employment, Disability, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (Northwestern U. Press 2000); and Disability Civil Rights Law and Policy (with Hill, Siegal & Waterstone) (West, 2003, 2005). In addition, Blanck and Robin Malloy are editors of the Cambridge University Press series Disability Law and Policy.