Peter Blanck

Peter Blanck (born August 27, 1957) is an American academic, psychologist, and lawyer who holds the titles of University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University.

Blanck was born in Elmont, New York on August 27, 1957. He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from University of Rochester in 1979, and a Ph.D. degree in social psychology from Harvard University in 1982 under the supervision of Robert Rosenthal. In 1981, Blanck was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award, which "is presented annually to the psychology graduate student who submits the best research paper that was published or presented at a national, regional, or state psychological association convention during the past calendar year."

After an additional year of postdoctoral research at Harvard University, Blanck earned a J.D. from the Stanford Law School in 1986. Blanck was elected President of the Stanford Law Review. He then served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carl E. McGowan, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Thereafter, Blanck was a legal associate at the Washington D.C. law firm Covington & Burling.

Blanck returned to academia in 1990 as an associate professor of law at the University of Iowa College of Law, adding a second professorship in psychology there in 1994. In 2002, he was named the Charles M. and Marion Kierscht Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law.

In 2005, Blanck joined Syracuse University as University Professor, which is the highest faculty rank granted to eight prior individuals in the history of the University. He also is Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University, which reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities with offices in Syracuse New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2010, Blanck was appointed as an honorary professor at National University Ireland, Galway.

In 2015, he won the Distinguished Service Award of NARRTC (formerly known as the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers), which is presented to "individuals who have made impressive contributions to the field of disability through research, teaching, service, or advocacy. The Distinguished Service Award is generally given for sustained contributions or an accumulation of life-time achievements. It is the highest recognition conferred by NARRTC."

Blanck was Kierscht Professor of Law and director of the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa prior to his appointment at Syracuse University. Blanck is Honorary Professor, Centre for Disability Law & Policy, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Blanck received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester, a Juris Doctorate from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University.

Blanck has written over 200 articles and books about the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related laws. He has received millions of dollars in grants to study disability law and policy. His recent books include:

• e-Quality: The Struggle for Web Accessibility by People with Cognitive Disabilities (2014), ISBN 9781107051805
• Routledge Handbook of Disability Law and Human Rights (with Flynn, 2017), ISBN 9781472438652
• Genetic Discrimination–Transatlantic Perspectives on the Case for a European Level Legal Response (with Quinn & de Paor, 2015, ISBN 9780415836937
• People with Disabilities: Sidelined or Mainstreamed? (with Schur & Kruse, 2013), ISBN 9781107249882
• Legal Rights of Persons with Disabilities: An Analysis of Federal Law (with Goldstein & Myhill, 2013), Product Code: 31001.2ED
• Disability Civil Rights Law and Policy (with Myhill, Siegal, & Waterstone, 3d ed., 2013), ISBN 978-0314279767
• Race, Ethnicity, and Disability: Veterans and Benefits in Post-Civil War America (with Logue, 2013), ISBN 9781107610583

Blanck and Robin Malloy are editors of the Cambridge University Press series Disability Law and Policy.

Blanck is Chairman of the Global Universal Design Commission (GUDC), and President of Raising the Floor (RtF) USA. He is a former member of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, a former trustee of YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network, a former Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Washington Program, a former Fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, and has been a Mary Switzer Scholar.

In 1983, Blanck was married to Wendy Jo Kislik, whom he met when they both were undergraduates at the University of Rochester. She is an artist, specializing in fused glass. The wedding took place at the Water Club in New York City. They have four children: three sons, Jason Blanck (July 29, 1988), Daniel Blanck (January 4, 1991), Albert Blanck (December 7, 1994), and a daughter, Caroline Blanck (May 25, 1997).

In 2008, Dr. Blanck was inducted to the University of Rochester Athletic Hall of Fame. While at Rochester, he lettered in Squash over the four-year period, and was elected team co-captain as a junior and senior.