Dick Zeller

Dr. Zeller began his career working in a residential institution for children with severe cognitive disabilities. He left that setting to join others at the University of Oregon who were convinced that services must be community-based. In 1976, he became the Director of the NW Direction Service Consortium at the U of O. In this capacity he led the development of four Direction Service projects in the NW, including Lane County Direction Service. In 1981, he became the first Executive Director of Direction Service, Inc., the host agency for CADRE, before returning to the University in 1982.

Dr. Zeller was appointed Director of the University’s Western Regional Resource Center in 1985. For almost twenty years in that capacity, he worked with dozens of State Directors of Special Education and hundreds of agency personnel, parent center leaders, consumers, administrators and teachers. He has participated on OSEP, NASDSE, and national TA&D workgroups, planning and review panels; he was a leader within the RRC program and with other national associations and TA organizations to improve results for students with disabilities.

In 2004, he retired from the University of Oregon and has served since as Senior Policy Analyst for CADRE. His professional interest is general and educational policy as it affects people with disabilities. He has written on disability policy, alternative dispute resolution, school finance, demography, distance education in remote and rural areas, and placement patterns in special education. He is particularly interested in national data on dispute resolution activities and its application to the study of dispute resolution systems, policy and practice.