Andrew Batavia

He was born at Beth-El Hospital (now Brookdale) in Brooklyn and lived in the Italian-Jewish neighborhood of Bensonhurst on 80th street until he was eight years old. In 1966, the family moved to Yonkers NY where Drew attended fourth grade at Public School 21 elementary school. Later he attended Lincoln High School and in May 1973, at age 15, completed the Yonkers Marathon, a few months prior to sustaining a spinal cord injury.

That summer (1973), at age 16, Drew was hired as a camp counselor for children with intellectual disabilities at Camp Lee Mar in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania. On a day off from work in early August, he went to Monticello with two other counselors. At the end of the day, they hitchhiked back to camp. The car that picked them up crashed, and Drew flew through the front windshield, breaking his neck. He was transported to Wayne Country Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, Pennsylvaniabut after initial care, he was transferred in mid-August to Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where his spinal cord injury (C 2-3 level) could be better managed. In 1974, following his acute care at Montefiore, he was admitted for physical rehabilitation at The Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine, (Rusk Institute) in NYC for almost a year. He was later discharged with a wheelchair to his home in Yonkers, NY where he completed his senior year at Lincoln High School (1974–75) and was elected co-president of his senior class.

Upon graduating high school, Drew matriculated at the University of California (UC), Berkeley (1975-1976), which had a Disabled Students Program. But after one year, he decided to transfer to Strawberry Creek College, a smaller division of UC Berkeley, which offered a more personal educational experience. The following year he transferred to UC Riverside (1976-1980), which offered a more wheelchair accessible campus and fewer distractions from studies, where he majored in both economics and sociology. After receiving a BS at UC Riverside, Drew applied to Stanford Law School but was wait listed and instead accepted an offer from Harvard Law School (1980-1982). The following summer, he interned as an associate at the Wall Street firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. After 2 years at Harvard, and feeling less interested law, he took a leave to get a MS degree in health services research at Stanford Medical School (1980-1983), where he studied under Victor Fuchs and Alain Enthoven. While at Stanford, his joined and served as president of the Stanford Disabled Students to address disability policy issues at the campus. Drew then completed his final year of law school at Stanford (1983-1984) while still receiving his law degree (JD) from Harvard (1984).

Drew’s first job (1984-1986) following school was as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) where he promulgated regulations, reviewed proposals and litigated. After 2 years working for HHS, he wanted to leave and join The National Rehabilitation Hospital (now Medstar) as Associate director of health services research under Gerben Dejong in Washington DC (1987-1989). He was funded at that time as a Mary E Switzer Research Fellow (1986-1987) and started his career as a health policy researcher where he published, together with Gerben, in the area of rehabilitation.

1991 signing of the ADA regulations by U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh (Andrew I Batavia on left side of photo)

Drafting of American with Disabilities Act Regulations

Drew applied and was accepted as a White House Fellow (1990–91), one of the 12 Fellows selected that year. As a White House Fellow, he served as Special Assistant to the attorney general, Richard Thornburgh, where regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 needed to be implemented. During that year, Drew wrote ADA regulations, title III.

Following the WHF, Drew accepted a position as senior staffer on the Domestic Policy Council in the White House (1991-1992), under President George H. W. Bush, where he wrote a proposal for national universal health care. In 1992, he served a year as research director for disability and rehabilitation policy at ABT Associates, Inc., in Bethesda, Maryland (1992-1993) and later, he served as executive director at the National Council on Disability (1993). Then from 1993-95, Drew served as a legislative assistant to Senator John McCain of Arizona where he focused on domestic economic and health policy issues.,

In 1992, Drew and his longtime personal assistant, Cheryl Nicholson, were married at their home in Washington, DC. . In 1995, they moved to Miami Beach where he wrote a column about disability issues for the Miami Herald. They adopted a Russian brother and sister, Joe and Katey in 1996.

While working as counsel at the Florida law firm, McDermott Will & Emery, (1995-1997), he filed amicus briefs, and served as the attorney of record to protect the rights of individuals who were terminally ill and who wished assistance to end their lives. Drew served as co-counsel on the Brief Amici on Behalf of Autonomy, Inc. in the case of Oregon v. Ashcroft in 2002 and in the appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also served as attorney of record on the Brief Amici in Washington v. Glucksbergand Vacco v. Quill before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1996 as well as on the Brief Amici for Krischer v. McIverin 1997.

Drew joined Florida International University (FIU) in September 1997 as an associate professor of health care law and policy (1997-2002) in the School of Policy and Management, where his main office was located on North Miami’s Biscayne campus. There, he continued to publish articles and the book, titled, Independent Living, which described three models of care for persons with disabilities.

In 2002, he became president and cofounded with Hugh Gallagher, Autonomy, Inc., a not-for-profit organization to represent people with disabilities who wanted choices and control over their lives, including the choice to end it for persons with disabilities who were terminally ill.

Drew passed away at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida, on January 6, 2003, from sepsis, at the age of 45. His memorial service was held a week later at Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Delray Beach. He was awarded tenure and promoted to full professor in January, 2003 (posthumous).

In 2015, 12 years after Drew’s death, 14 chapters of his unfinished memoir were discovered on a hard drive. The family completed the memoir, which he had titled: Wisdom from a Chair. In the preface, Drew wrote his life’s mission:

“My mission in this world is to try to ensure that all people, including people with disabilities, have greater choices in and control over their lives. I believe that achieving this mission will make the world a slightly

better place than it was before I got here.” page xvii