Dennis Lang Award Winners in 2021

Closeup image of an Asian American woman with long dark brown wavy hair, wearing a white dress, Black graduation gown and cap with a white tassel, and purple cords hanging from her neck, smiling. Background is blurred greenery.

Ishira, a girl with straight black hair and brown eyes, is wearing an orangish pink dress with a black sweater and smiles at the camera.

Kelly Mack, A young white woman with wavy brownish hair smiles for the camera. She wears a blue floral blouse.

Katherine, Asian woman, short brown hair with bangs, wearing a pink sweater, smiles at the camera with her left arm raised up and her right arm to the side in front of out-of-focus buildings.

This was an astounding, accomplished class of DS students! The following were selected this year for the award that honors Dennis Lang, a co-founder of the UW Disability Studies Program, for his dedication and service in the creation and growth of the community and program. The award goes to students who embody Dennis' spirited commitment to and academic excellence in the field of Disability Studies.

Please join us in congratulating these four students!

Christine Lew (Disability Studies and Psychology)

Christine is a Disability Inclusive Development fellow and a major advocate for the Disability Studies Program. In the two years she has been Director of the ASUW Student Disability Commission, she has created an extraordinary amount of accessible programming, organized a dynamic team of interns, wrote the report that led to the establishment of the Office of Inclusive Design, and worked in many ways to serve students at intersections of marginalization.

Ishira Parikh (Disability Studies and Biology)

Ishira is passionate about disability-inclusive STEM and pre-med education. She created and disseminated worldwide an accessible K-12 biology curriculum, won awards for this work, and programmed SDC events aimed at integrating disability into the UW curriculum.

Kelly Mack (PhD, Computer Science)

Kelly is dedicated to improving accessibility for disabled students at UW through her research, service, and mentoring and allyship. Her thesis work will examine communication between DRS, students, and other stakeholders, and develop a prototype to allow tracking of DRS requests for improved accountability.

Katherine Chamblin (Speech and Hearing Sciences, Minor in Disability Studies)

Katherine is a leader in the Student Disability Commission and the Disability Inclusive Development Initiative. She seeks out research experiences that impact the lives of marginalized populations. Because of a presentation she gave, UNESCO decided to hold a new workshop this summer focused on engaging young people with disabilities in research.