WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:
- Patrick D. Cannon – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
- Howard A. Rosenblum – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
- Deborah A. Ryan – Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
- Gary Blumenthal – Member, National Council on Disability
- Ari Ne’eman – Member, National Council on Disability
- Clyde E. Terry – Member, National Council on Disability
President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:
Patrick D. Cannon, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Patrick D. Cannon was State Director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind, a position he held from 1997 to 2012. He was also President of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, and previously served as Director of the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns for 10 years. He has served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Capital Area Transportation Authority in Lansing, Michigan since 1991. In 1995, he was appointed to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board, where he served two terms as a public member and as the Board’s Chairperson from 1997 to 1998. Previously, Mr. Cannon was a member of the National Rehabilitation Association, the Council of State Administrators in Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Executive Board of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People With Disabilities.
Howard A. Rosenblum, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Howard A. Rosenblum is CEO at the National Association of the Deaf, a position he has held since 2011. Previously, he was an attorney at Equip for Equality, the designated Protection & Advocacy entity in Illinois from 2002 to 2011. He was an attorney at the firm of Monahan and Cohen in Chicago from 1992 to 2002, and a Civil Rights Enforcement Advocate at Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago from 1992 to 1993. Mr. Rosenblum is the co-founder and former Chairperson of the Midwest Center on Law. He was a participant on the Disability Policy Committee of Obama for America in 2008. Mr. Rosenblum received a B.S. from the University of Arizona and a J.D. from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Deborah A. Ryan, Appointee for Member, Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board
Deborah A. Ryan is the founder and Director of Deborah A. Ryan & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in ensuring compliance with state and federal accessibility requirements. Previously, she was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board from 1987 to 2002. Ms. Ryan was first appointed to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board in 2011, and she previously served on its Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Boston Society of Architects Access Committee. Ms. Ryan received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
Gary Blumenthal, Appointee for Member, National Council on Disability
Gary Blumenthal is President and CEO of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers of Massachusetts, a position he has held since 2010. Previously, he served as the organization’s Executive Director from 2007 to 2010. He was Executive Director of the Alta California Regional Center from 2005 to 2006 and Wichita Regional Director of the Kansas State Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services from 2003 to 2005. Mr. Blumenthal was CEO of the Florida State Protection and Advocacy Programs for People with Developmental Disabilities from 1998 to 2003. He served as Director of the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation from 1993 to 1998, and as a member of the Kansas State House of Representatives from 1983 to 1993. He was first appointed to the National Council on Disability in 2010. Mr. Blumenthal received a B.S. from the University of Kansas at Lawrence and an M.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Ari Ne’eman, Appointee for Member, National Council on Disability
Ari Ne’eman is the President of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, an organization he founded in 2006. He was first appointed to the National Council on Disability in 2010. He is a member of the Board of Directors of TASH. He served as a Public Member of the Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee from 2010 to 2012. Mr. Ne’eman also served as Vice Chair of the New Jersey Adults with Autism Task Force from 2008 to 2009 and as a Public Member of the New Jersey Special Education Review Commission from 2006 to 2007. In 2008, he received the Advocates in Disability award from the HSC Foundation. Mr. Ne’eman received a B.A. from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
Clyde E. Terry, Appointee for Member, National Council on Disability
Clyde E. Terry is CEO of Granite State Independent Living, where he has worked since 2002. Previously, he worked at the New Hampshire Developmental Disabilities Council as Executive Director from 2001 to 2002 and as Director of Policy and Planning from 1994 to 2001. In 1996, Mr. Terry was also an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire. Earlier in his career, he was Hearing Officer/ADA Coordinator at the New Hampshire Division of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Office of Client and Legal Services from 1988 to 1994. He was first appointed to the National Council on Disability in 2011. Mr. Terry has served on the boards of the National Task Force on Accessible Elections and the ADA Watch Advisory Council. Mr. Terry received a B.S. from Emerson College and a J.D. from the University of New Hampshire School of Law.