N. Mather to receive LDA Award
How about this recognition of strong and steady contributions to learning disabilities?
Nancy Mather, distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Arizona, will be honored with the Learning Disabilities Association’s LDA Award at the organization’s 63rd annual meeting in St. Louis (MO. US) in February 2026. In its press release about the award, LDA reported that the LDA Award “is the highest honor given by LDA.”
‘LDA is honored to present Dr. Mather with the 2026 LDA Award,’ said LDA’s CEO, Cindy Cipoletti. ‘Dr. Mather has been a pioneer in the field of learning disabilities, and her contributions to the field have ensured that thousands of students succeed in school.’
LDA is a long-standing organization in special education, having gotten its start in the early 1960s when a group of parents and professionals met in Chicago (IL, US) about providing educational services for children who were not included amont those eligible for special education. The group invited Samuel A. Kirk, noted authority on special education (and later Nancy’s doctoral advisor), to speak about a categorical label for the children about whom they were concerned; he suggested what he called a behavioral rather than a medical or psychological term, “learning disability,” which he had used in a publication the previous year (Kirk & Bateman, 1962). Histories of learning disabilities (e.g., Hallahan & Merecer, 2002; Weiderholt, 1973) cite the meeting as a founding event in learning disabilities.
Although she has accomplished many things during her career, Nancy is probably best known for her work in assessment, reading, and writing. In addition to her university appointments, she served as a teacher, diagnostician, author, and consultant in the US and internationally.
Nancy has published extensively in both academic journals and professional books. Many know her for authoring such titles, Essentials of Dyslexia: Assessment and Intervention (2nd edition, with Barbara Wendling) and Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors (with Sam Goldstein and Katie Eklund). Many others know her because of her influential contributions as co-author of the Woodcock-Johnson IV (and related assessments).
These accomplishments illustrate in large part why she deserves the LDA Award. But the catalog of qualifications do not capture an especially important one: Nancy cares about kids, their teachers, and their parents.
Nancy has been a part of the Special Education Today community since about the time it began its current iteration. It is delightful to see her honored by LDA.
Read LDA’s press release about the LDA Award
Read the University of Arizona profile about Nancy.
Learn about the 63rd LDA convention in February 2026
References
Hallahan, D. P., & Mercer, C. D. (2002). Learning disabilities: Historical perspectives. In Identification of learning disabilities. In R. Bradley, L. Danielson, & D. P. Hallahan, Identification of earning disabilities (pp. 1-67). Routledge.
Kirk, S. A., & Bateman, B. (1962). Diagnosis and remediation of learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 29, 73-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440296202900204
Wiederholt, J.L. (1974). Historical perspectives on the education of the learning disabled. In L. Mann & D. A. Sabatino (Eds.), The second review of special education (pp. 103-152). Grune & Stratton.