The 2024 State of the Art Debra Hart Policy and Practice Leadership Award was awarded to Dr. Martha Mock, Professor at Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester and Chair of the Think College National Coordinating Center Accreditation Workgroup.
Dr. Mock was the first recipient of this award, which was given to acknowledge her leadership and vision in shepherding the work of the National Coordinating Center's Accreditation Workgroup as it developed, refined and piloted a program accreditation process for postsecondary education programs for students with intellectual disability and established the first and only accrediting agency for this field, the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council.
In presenting the award, Cate Weir of Think College had this to say: "Martha worked hand in hand with Debra on the accreditation efforts, and Debra was so proud of the progress being made under their collaborative leadership."