In the News

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center UCEDD co-director Elise McMillan and Governor Bill Haslam were both honored with the 2017 Freedom Award from Disability Rights Tennessee. The Freedom Award honors Tennesseans who through their leadership have advanced the rights of people with disabilities. The awards were given during the Fourth Annual Disability Employment Awareness Luncheon on Oct. 24. The annual event brought together almost 300 business, nonprofit, government, and community leaders to network and learn how to create and strengthen diverse and inclusive workplaces.

Elise McMillan, J.D., Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (VKC UCEDD), Director of Community Engagement and Public Policy, and Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, will receive the 2017 Education Award of the National Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC) at its annual convention held July 20-23 in Sacramento, CA. This award recognizes McMillan’s “extraordinary impact at the community, state, and national levels by developing model inclusive education and higher education programs for students with Down syndrome.”