Disability Leader Alan A. Reich Dies at Age 75
Published by National Organization on Disability www.nod.org
Alan A. Reich, founder of the National Organization on Disability (N.O.D.) and its President Emeritus, died on Tuesday at this home in McLean, Virginia following a long illness. He was 75.
Mr. Reich, a wheelchair user for over forty years as a result of a swimming accident, retired in April 2005 after founding and leading N.O.D. for 23 years. N.O.D. was the first disability organization concerned with all disabilities and all age groups. It remains the oldest organization dedicated to expanding the participation and contribution of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life.
Though rendered quadriplegic by his accident in 1962, he continued as an executive in manufacturing management and corporate long-range planning with Polaroid Corporation where he worked for 11 years. In 1970 he was recruited into the federal government's executive branch as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and subsequently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for East-West Trade and Director of the Bureau of East-West Trade.
During these years, Mr. Reich served the disability movement as a volunteer, working to further research in regeneration of the central nervous system. He founded and chaired Paralysis Cure Research Foundation, was president of the National Paraplegia Foundation (now the National Spinal Cord Injury Association) and founded the National Task Force on Disability. He also served a term as chairman of the People-to-People Committee on Disability.
In 1981, Mr. Reich founded the U.S. Council for the International Year of the Disabled. In that capacity, Mr. Reich was the first wheelchair user to address the UN General Assembly when he called for 1981 to be declared the UN International Year of Disabled Persons. He resigned from the government when he was 52 to assume full time leadership of the Council and transformed it into the National Organization on Disability in 1982.
Mobilizing a network of leaders from his business and government careers, Mr. Reich founded N.O.D. as a platform to make the public aware of the needs and potential of people with disabilities and prodded national and international leaders to action. He was a key advocate for the Americans with Disabilities Act and for three decades spearheaded critical survey research with the Harris Poll, tracking the progress of Americans with disabilities in key areas of life.
While president of N.O.D., Mr. Reich built the coalition of disability groups that successfully fought for the inclusion of a statue of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his wheelchair at the FDR Memorial. He chaired the World Committee on Disability the international arm of N.O.D. and established the Committee's Franklin D. Roosevelt International Disability Award recognizing nations for progress toward the United Nations' goals for disabled persons. Mr. Reich participated in the presentation of the Award to seven heads and chiefs of state at the United Nations.
As early as 1984, Mr. Reich founded the Bimillenium Foundation to encourage leaders of nations worldwide to set year 2000 goals aimed at improving the human condition.
Immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Mr. Reich convened a task force of disability leaders and emergency managers, which led to the creation of the Emergency Preparedness Initiative of N.O.D. with the goal of ensuring that people with disabilities are included in emergency planning at all levels.
Speaking for N.O.D. about Mr. Reich's contributions, Michael R. Deland, the organization's chairman for the past ten years and now its president, said, N.O.D. is the living, vibrant legacy of this remarkable man of unrivaled optimism and tenacity. Through his leadership, he changed the way our nation and nations of the world view disability. Like FDR, his disability gave him new-found strength that enabled him, from his wheelchair, to build the first major disability organization in the nation one that under his leadership continued it's pioneering role both in this country and worldwide.
In July 2005, Mr. Reich received from former President George H. W. Bush the George Bush Medal for his work on behalf of people with disabilities. In commenting on Alan Reich's extraordinary leadership, the former President said: As the Honorary Chairman of N.O.D. and its World Committee of Disability, I've observed, first-hand, Alan's tenacious commitment to providing hope and opportunity for millions of people with disabilities, not only in this country, but also worldwide.
When notified of this award, Mr. Reich said, By accepting the George Bush Medal, I am mindful of the continuing commitment it implies to ensure that the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act be fulfilled for all Americans and the spirit of the Act be projected throughout the world.
The American Association of Retired Persons has planned to recognize him as one of its 10 People of the Year in December.
Mr. Reich, a native of Pearl River, New York, graduated with a B.A. from Dartmouth College where he was an All-American in track and field. He received an M.A. from Middlebury College Russian School and a diploma in Slavic languages and Eastern European Studies from Oxford University. He spoke five languages. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer and Russian language interrogation officer in Germany and was named as a member of the U.S. Army Infantry OCS Hall of Fame. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard University and was awarded honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees from Dartmouth College and Gallaudet University.
Mr. Reich is survived by his wife of 50 years, Gay Forsythe Reich, two sons, James and Jeffrey, a daughter, Elizabeth Keane, 11 grandchildren and a brother, Peter.