John Kregel

Bio:

John Kregel, Ed.D. (Co-Principal Investigator) Dr. Kregel is Professor of Special Education at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Chairman of the newly created Department of Special Education and Disability Policy. He is also Associate Director and Research Director of the VCU Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. He has spent the past 18 years conducting demonstration and program evaluation research on supported employment programs across the nation, focusing primarily on consumer choice, quality assurance, and program funding.

In addition to his work on the VCU-RRTC, Dr. Kregel is Principal Investigator of the SSA funded State Partnership Initiative Evaluation Project, a seven-year effort to evaluate the outcomes of demonstration activities in 18 states to promote employment of SSI, SSDI and TANF recipients. He is also Principal Investigator of the VCU Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach Technical Assistance Center, a five-year $6 million project providing training and technical assistance to local agencies involved in the implementation of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentive Improvement Act. In recognition of his work on recent SSA contracts, Dr. Kregel was awarded the Associate Commissioners Citation in 2000 for his role in the State Partnership Initiative, and the Deputy Commissioners citation in 2003 for his role in the Benefits Assistance Resource Center

During his career at VCU, Dr. Kregel has secured over $30 million in external funding to support research, personnel preparation, demonstration and evaluation activities. He has authored over 100 books, monographs, chapters, project reports, and journal articles focusing on barriers to employment of adolescents and adults with disabilities, supported employment, employer attitudes, transition from school to work and program evaluation.

He has testified twice before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security on return to work issues. He has served as a consultant to Lewin, Inc., Mathematica Policy Research, and the Urban Institute and the National Academy of Social Insurance on the employment of SSA beneficiaries. He has made international presentations in Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Japan.

Dr. Kregel devotes a great deal of his time to the preparation of doctoral students. He presently serves as Coordinator of the Urban Services Leadership track in the existing VCU School of Education doctoral program. In the past ten years, Dr. Kregel has chaired 18 successful dissertations and presently advises three doctoral students. Individuals interested in a doctoral program in disability policy should contact him at jkregel@vcu.edu.

Additional Affiliations:

VCU School of Education - http://www.soe.vcu.edu/faculty/JKregel.htm