Michael M. Behrmann
Kellar Professor of Special Education
George Mason University
Recipient of the Teaching with Technology Award
Michael M. Behrmann is the Director of the Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities and Kellar Professor of Special Education in the Graduate School of Education at George Mason University.
Dr. Michael M. Behrmann is a leader and innovator in special education and technology. He believes in collaborative research/training enhanced by technology. An early adopter of microcomputer technology, his pioneering pursuits are known worldwide. He wrote two of the first books on assistive and instructional technology. His over 80 publications and 250 presentations span nearly three decades. Since 1979 at George Mason University, he has secured over $35 million in external grants and contracts, $11 million in revenue-based projects, and $3.5 million in gifts for special education to the University. In 2008, he was awarded the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) J. Wallace Wallin Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Behrmann received his Ed.D. in Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1978. In 1979, he came to George Mason University’s Special Education Programs as Coordinator of the graduate program in severe disabilities. He began his research with assistive technology (AT) in special education in 1981, and designed and implemented a master’s degree program in AT in 1986, followed by a doctoral program and a certificate in AT. Dr. Behrmann was also a charter member for CEC Technology and Media Division.
Current professional activities include the directorship of a state-funded training and technical assistance center (TTAC); the Department of Rehabilitation’s Northern Region for the Virginia Assistive Technology System (VATS); multi-university statewide distance education grants to prepare teachers in the areas of severe disabilities and vision impairments. He is also continuing to develop the Kellar Instructional Handheld System, a browser-based wireless data collection system for collecting and automatically charting data by teachers. He also developed a web-based professional development site, TTACOnline.org, which has 300,000 visitors per year.
Dr. Behrmann has advanced collaborative intra-university and intra-agency projects across Virginia that have reached thousands of professionals. Through a state-funded collaboration in distance education, advanced technology helps deliver a common curriculum to students at six state universities and at home. He also developed an outreach program where GMU faculty deliver master’s/licensure courses to teachers and instructional assistants in Virginia and Washington DC. With VDOE, he recently established the Accessible Instructional Materials-VA library at GMU to promote universally designed instruction and ensure that any qualified student in Virginia can have no-cost accessible media for learning.
