Lex Frieden awarded Doctorate in law from National University of Ireland

Ollscoil na hEireann - National University of Ireland

February 19, 2004

Ollscoil na hÉireann

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND

NUI HONORARY DEGREES, 2004

PRESS RELEASE

[Contact Person: The Registrar (Tel: 4392421; Fax: 4392466; e-mail: registrar@nui.ie)]

The Senate of the National University of Ireland has decided to award honorary degrees to the following persons during 2004. The honorary degrees will be conferred by the Chancellor of the University, Dr Garret FitzGerald, at the venue indicated below:

FRIDAY 25 JUNE: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY IRELAND GALWAY
Professor Roy Foster DLitt
Lex Frieden LLD
Judge Phillip Kirsch LLD
John Mannion DLitt
Cyril Ramaphosa LLD

NUI logo 3 (doorway-description)

Lex Frieden, Chairperson of US National Disability Council

Lex Frieden is Senior Vice-President at the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) at Houston Texas. He is also Director of TIRR’s Independent Living Research Program and Professor of Physical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. In 2002, he was appointed Chairperson of the National Council on Disability in Washington, DC, an independent federal agency which makes recommendations on disability policy issues to the President and Congress of the United States.

_{excerpted
from NUI press release}

_{TEXT
OF THE
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY Dr. Angela Savage, National
University of Ireland, Galway, on 25 June 2004, on the occasion of the
conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa,
on Lex Frieden}

_{“A Sheánsailéir, a mhuintir
na hOllscoile agus a dhaoOine uaisle.”}

_{Lex
Frieden is a native
of Oklahoma but is now fiercely loyal to his adopted State
of Texas. While in his late
teens he was involved in a head-on car collision that left his body
paralyzed. This did not, however, daunt
his spirit. Nor did it blunt his formidable intellect and renowned
political skills. Rather it gave him a mission in life – to play his
part in breaking down barriers that unfairly exclude people with
disabilities from mainstream activities.

Despite an impeccable academic record, one undergraduate
College in the US initially refused him entry simply because he uses a
wheelchair. Undeterred, he subsequently
qualified at Tulsa and Houston Universities and is now a professor of
physical medicine and
rehabilitation at the Baylor College of Medicine and Senior Vice
President at TIRR (The Institute for
Rehabilitation and Research) in Houston, Texas. In all, he has
held six
different professorships mostly in the fields of community medicine and
rehabilitation. So much for the limits of disability!

His many research accomplishments in the fields of
medicine and rehabilitation are impressive enough on their own, but Lex
Frieden is more widely known throughout the world for his work
in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. His
goal has always been to unlock the human potential behind the
disability and to create a genuinely open and equal society for
all. He has done more than most to make this dream
a reality.

Lex Frieden served as Executive Director of the US National Council
for the Handicapped throughout the 1980s at a crucial moment for
disability law and policy in the United States. In this capacity he was
instrumental in
advocating for a blueprint for what was to become the Americans with
Disabilities Act, or ADA, of 1990. His
entrepreneurship and persistence in pursuing the policy process was the
decisive factor in ensuring that the blueprint was taken seriously both
in Congress and by the White House.

His proudest achievement – the Americans with
Disabilities Act – is a unique civil rights law. It
is of a piece with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Kennedy–Johnson
dream of a just society for all. It
outlaws all forms of discrimination against persons with
disabilities. It has been copied in various forms in over 45
countries throughout the world. Its symbolism resonates in all corners
of the globe. Without Lex Frieden’s political skills and
commitment it might never
have made it on to the statute books.

Lex Frieden has always been conscious of the fact that 500 million
of the estimated 600 million persons with disabilities in the world
live in developing countries. Not content
with a domestic role, he became President of Rehabilitation
International in 2000. In this capacity he
continued the work of Irishman and former President of Rehabilitation
International – Dr Arthur O’Reilly - of lobbying Governments worldwide
to become more engaged in the drafting of a new United Nations treaty
on the rights of persons with disabilities. When
the treaty is finalised it will be due in no small part to the inspired
leadership Lex has provided while President of Rehabilitation
International.} Lex, Joyce and Trey (grandson) with NUI Galway President

Lex, Joyce and Trey (grandson) with NUI Galway President

_{He has delivered over
400 keynote and other addresses to
bodies such as the US Civil Rights Commission, the President’s
Committee on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the White
House Domestic Policy Council and the World Assembly of Rehabilitation
International. He has served on dozens of
boards either as member, co-chair or chair, including the American
Association of People with Disabilities and is a leader in the
Independent Living Movement in the US.

In his career to
date, Lex has earned no fewer than two
Presidential citations. He was appointed
to the Chair of the US National Council on Disability (NCD) in 2002 by
President Bush. This is the premier body
in the US charged with making recommendations to Congress and the
President on disability issues.

Lex
married Joyce in 1976. Not
unusual for the 1970s - they met while attending a demonstration he had
organised to highlight the rights of persons with disabilities.
They were married in front of the, Jefferson memorial. This was
indeed
fitting. As author of the Declaration of
Independence Jefferson asserted that ‘all men are created equal’.
As one of the chief architects of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, Lex has helped to make that moral
assertion a reality in the lives of so many citizens with disabilities
in America and has inspired countless millions more
throughout the world to achieve the same. Truly,
Lex Frieden’s life is lived in the Jeffersonian
tradition of service.

Today we confer upon Lex Frieden the Degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris
causa,
and we honour his life’s work.}

_{“PRAEHONORABILIS
CANCELLARIE, TOTAQUE UNIVERSITAS: Praesento vobis hunc meum filium quem
scio tam moribus quam doctrin habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur,
honoris causa, ad gradum Doctoratus in utroque Jure, tam Civili quam
Canonico, idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo totique Academiae. ”}

_{Lex Frieden
Awarded Honorary Doctorate}

_{Lex
Frieden, Chairperson of the US
National Council on Disability and senior vice-president at The
Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR) in Houston, Texas, was
awarded an honorary
doctorate in laws (LL.D.) by the National University of Ireland (NUI)
at a conferring ceremony in Galway, Ireland on June 25th 2004. Degrees
were also conferred upon Professors Roy Foster, Philippe Kirsch and
John Mannion.}

_{Frieden was recognized for his
instrumental role in conceiving and drafting the 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act and for his leadership now at the forefront of the new
United Nations treaty on the rights of persons with disabilities.}

_{NUI
Galway is renowned for its research centers of excellence in the areas
of human rights and humanities. The honorees were carefully considered
and selected for conferring because of their significant contributions
to society in the area of human rights or through their scholarly
contributions to the area of humanities.}

_{In
recognizing the accomplishments and contributions that each individual
has made to society during their lifetime, The President of NUI Galway,
Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh said:}

_{“Each
of these individuals in their own way, has made a significant
contribution to society and to altering and enhancing the lives of
many. This has been achieved through their work, views, beliefs and
unfaltering commitment which has enabled them to achieve personal
objectives which have been for the benefit of others. NUI Galway is a
university which has long supported ideals which promote research
excellence, both in the areas of Human Rights and Historical studies
and for this reason, we are proud today to honor the work of all of
these individuals.”}

_{Judge
Philippe Kirsch is the first president of the International Criminal
Court. Established in 2003, the creation of the International Criminal
Court is perhaps the most important new international organization to
be established since the United Nations. Roy Foster is Carroll
Professor of Irish history at Oxford University and has a highly
distinguished
record in historical scholarship. John Mannion, St. John’s Memorial
University, Newfoundland, has made it his life’s work
to document and study all aspects of the Irish migration to
Newfoundland.}

_###

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