West Hartford resident earns Alexander J. Tymchuk Emerging Leader Award

Barbara Nadeau, of West Hartford, clinical assistant professor for occupational therapy in the School of Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University, was awarded the Alexander J. Tymchuk Emerging Leader Award at the Association for Successful Parenting’s 2013 International Conference held recently in Mystic, Conn.

The award, named for an emeritus professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, recognizes Nadeau for her contributions to the field of supporting parents with intellectual disabilities and other learning difficulties. She is also acknowledged for promoting advocacy, on-going system change and best practices in the area of parenting by people with cognitive limitations.

“There are many people doing remarkable work to change the systems that discriminate against parents with cognitive limitations – work that started almost single handedly by Dr. Alexander Tymchuk,” Nadeau said. “I am thrilled to be among them and will continue to advocate for appropriate supporters so all parents are assured opportunities to be active participants in their children’s lives.”

Nadeau joined the Quinnipiac faculty in 2009. She earned a master’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Hartford and a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls 6,400 full-time undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students in 58 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business and Engineering, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges issue. The 2014 issue of U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master’s programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review’s “The Best 377 Colleges.” The Chronicle of Higher Education has named Quinnipiac among the “Great Colleges to Work For.” For more information, please visit www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.