Faculty Profile
Susanne Bruyère
Susanne Bruyère, director of ILR’s Employment and Disability Institute (EDI) and the School’s new associate dean of outreach, has a work schedule that seems to stretch beyond 24 hours a day. But when her EDI colleagues gave her horseback riding lessons as a Christmas gift to rekindle a longstanding passion, she found time for a little fun. “I’ve always loved horses,” Bruyère says, “but it’s been a while since I treated myself to lessons and the break from work.”
Leisure pursuits don’t generally figure heavily on Bruyère’s calendar. Among advising and mentoring assignments undertaken for Dean Harry Katz, editorial board responsibilities for several outside organizations, numerous professional presentations, an active research agenda, and teaching a distance-learning class for ILR students spending a semester in Switzerland, Bruyère manages EDI, a multi-million-dollar unit comprising 28 Ithaca-based researchers and professional staff plus another seven contract employees spread from Boston to Chicago. Bruyère also squeezes in an occasional dance class (tango, salsa, and swing) and quiet moments with her daughter, a graduate student at Ithaca College.
Bruyère accomplishes all this, and more, with unwavering energy and an infectious can-do spirit. She grew up in the midst of a “terrific” close-knit and large (including 75 first cousins) extended family in upstate New York, along the United States–Canada border. She gravitated to the field of disabilities studies as a teenager following a job as a psychiatric attendant in a local mental health facility and exposure to family members with disabilities. That early focus inspired her future intellectual and professional development. Starting at D’Youville College in Buffalo, where she majored in psychology and special education, Bruyère went on to earn several advanced degrees that broadened her scope, including a doctorate in rehabilitation counseling psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. By the time she arrived at ILR in 1986, returning east partly to be closer to family, she was fully grounded in her chosen field.
ILR and Bruyère were a match waiting to happen. “What attracted me to ILR and Cornell was the land grant mission,” Bruyère says. “I wanted to be at an educational institution that has an expectation of academic excellence in research and teaching as well as a strong public service component.” The ILR School has proven an especially fertile environment for Bruyère, enabling her to pursue her goal of advancing public policies and workplace practices that provide people with disabilities a meaningful chance at vocational success.
Disabilities in the workplace emerged as a research and outreach theme for the ILR School’s Extension Division during the 1970s. Under the leadership of William Wasmuth, a group of researchers studied the application of small-business principles to sheltered workshops (community rehabilitation programs), not-for-profit facilities that provided employment for individuals with disabilities. Their work soon expanded to reflect evolving public policy and the rehabilitation community’s need for initiatives such as independent living and supported employment training. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, the group shifted its attention to workplace practices and employment policy and reinvigorated its research program.
Since becoming director of EDI in 1991, Bruyère has led the unit through a period of phenomenal growth (see sidebar). Bruyère is particularly proud to report that EDI materials have been embraced by professionals in the advocacy and policy communities in several developing countries. EDI’s work is bounded by major pieces of federal legislation, including the ADA, the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, and the Workforce Investment Act. At present, the institute is involved in 15 projects supported by contracts from nine funding agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Education, and several New York State offices; the total annual budget approaches $5 million.
Bruyère is quick to share credit for EDI’s accomplishments. “Success can be attributed to several factors,” she says. “First and foremost is a concerted effort and excellent teamwork.” The EDI team is diverse and multidisciplinary, comprising economists, psychologists, social workers, special educators, rehabilitation counselors, lawyers, web and research specialists, and other top-notch professionals. Bruyère hires people with proven track records in related research or practice venues and sets high standards for job performance. EDI team members are totally focused on the business at hand, be it a 50-page research report, a workplace accommodations manual, a policy and practice brief, or a web site containing pithy facts about relevant regulations.
Timing is the second factor underlying EDI’s track record. Team members are alert to evolving political, economic, and social circumstances affecting their constituencies and are ready to undertake research and outreach activities that address current needs.
“This focus has enabled us to take advantage of funding that flows from new legislation, from the adoption of personcentered career and vocational planning for adults with disabilities, and from changes in approach to the delivery of rehabilitation services and the education and workforce preparation of special needs youth,” Bruyère explains.
Even as she takes on more responsibility as associate dean of outreach, Bruyère has no intention of forsaking her involvement with EDI. In fact, she regards her new job as an opportunity to take a longer and wider view of the issues that concern her and as a platform from which she can positively affect the economic and personal wellbeing of all individuals.
Bruyère was recently awarded the James F. Garrett Award for a Distinguished Career in Rehabilitation Research, which will be presented April 1 in Montreal.
—ILR Connections, Winter 2006
See Also
- Susanne Bruyère
