Long Time LEND Director David Helm Retires

Congratulations to David Helm! David has served as the Director of Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Massachusetts for nearly 15 years. Before that, he was the LEND Training Director for 20 years. This summer, David retired from his position as LEND Director.

David has been an outstanding teacher, researcher, writer, and administrator. Dr. Helm received his PhD in Sociology from Boston University. He has had numerous academic appointments, including Harvard University, Bentley University, Boston College, Boston University, Lesley University, University of Massachusetts. He has taught at Harvard Medical School, Brandeis University, and Emerson College. David was also a Fellow of American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and served on editorial boards of professional publications. Dr. Helm’s impressive CV includes 95 major presentations, 43 articles and chapters, and six monographs.

Dr. Helm has had many exceptional academic achievements, and he is also an admirable mentor, colleague, and friend. David’s long-time colleague Dr. Ludwik Szymanski shared,

“Dr. Helm has been an excellent teacher for his trainees of varied disciplines. He imbued them with compassion, ability to learn from one another, and to work together. He is a truly interdisciplinary person, who has the talent to teach others how to be members of a team, not limited by the boundaries of one’s own discipline…He is also a warm person and great friend, caring for his patients and students and a model for them.”

David has dedicated a lifetime to the field of developmental disabilities and to teaching about human development and developmental disabilities. His work has had an important impact on the lives of people with disabilities and their families as well as on the life of his students and colleagues.