Stein receives Viscardi Award disability rights work

Harvard Law School Visiting Professor Michael Ashley Stein ’88 was awarded the 2013 Viscardi Award, which honors people living with disabilities for their work and influence in the global disability community.

With Harvard Law School Professor William Alford ‘77, Stein co-founded the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, which works to promote the human rights of people with disabilities worldwide. (See profile of HPOD, “Able Lawyering,” in the Summer 2011 Harvard Law Bulletin.) Stein is Executive Director of the Project.

The Cabell Professor of Law at the William & Mary School of Law, Stein is one of the world’s foremost experts on disability law and rights. He participated in the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, works with disabled persons organizations around the world, actively consults with international governments on their disability laws and policies, and advises a number of United Nations bodies.

The Viscardi Award is named after Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr., one of the world’s leading advocates for people with disabilities. The March 4 award announcement coincides with the 80th anniversary of the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who as a member of the disability community was among the most influential figures of the 20th century and one of eight presidents whom Viscardi advised during his lifetime.

Read more on the Harvard Law School website.