Always Seeing the Big Picture

During his 37-year career as an administrator for state and federal rehabilitation services, Doug Burleigh (MA ’66) acted as a vital bridge between bureaucratic institutions and individuals with disabilities. He has continued to perform that important role even after retiring a year ago from his position in Kansas City as Regional Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

As a career civil servant and committed disability rights activist, Burleigh helped hammer out the 1990 American’s With Disabilities Act and once the law took effect, ensured that individuals with disabilities actually received the services authorized by Congress. Under the leadership of the former Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services, the late Justin Dart, Jr., Burleigh aggressively protected the rights of rehabilitation services consumers, advocated for independent living, and insisted that individuals with disabilities staff disability service organizations.

“Doug always represented people with disabilities rather than the professional providers,” Yoshiko Dart, the Commissioner’s widow and fellow disability services activist said. “Partly because of his training at Iowa, he has always been very progressive. And whenever my husband asked certain things of the regional commissioners, he knew that Doug would be the first to respond and that his response would be profound, not bureaucratic.”

Burleigh agrees that his graduate work at The University of Iowa shaped his attitudes and accomplishments.

“The program at Iowa was decades ahead of where the profession was,” he said. “Because of my training under John Muthard and Len Miller, I felt comfortable aggressively advocating that rehabilitation services should focus on the individual consumer and that people with disabilities should speak for themselves.”

When Justin Dart became the co-founder of the Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities, he invited Burleigh to serve as the group’s executive secretary. Burleigh participated in congressional hearings and helped draft language for seminal legislation that defines and protects the rights of Americans with disabilities.

Burleigh retired last year from his position with the federal government and lasted six months before deciding that retirement didn’t suit him. Today, he works from his Kansas City home as an independent consultant on the employment of people with disabilities. He travels across the country to teach and train service providers, shape policy and programs, and develop organizations that can continue serving the constituents he has served so well throughout his professional life.

For his lifetime of important contributions to the field, Burleigh was recognized with the 2003 Rehabilitation Counseling Alumni of the Year award. He attributes his career success to the education he received at Iowa.

“All of my work at the federal level was easy because The University of Iowa taught me to think, and to write, and how to focus on small issues while never losing sight of the big picture,” he said.

Colleague Orville Townsend (BS ’67/MA ’92) said he has always seen Burleigh as a “big picture” person. “A good leader has power and can get things done,” Townsend said. “Doug is a great leader who uses power to help others get things done.” – by Jean Florman