Speakers

Dr. Chris Parthemos is the Director of the University of Virginia's Student Disability Access Center. He has over ten years of experience in the disability space, with professional experience as a disability services professional, vocational rehabilitation counselor, and community-based behavioral therapist.

He holds a doctorate in Educational Research, Assessment, and Evaluation, and has led research projects on artificial intelligence in higher education, sense of belonging for disabled students, educational equity, and disability services broadly. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, and serves on the national Research Review panel for AHEAD. He has publications in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, Virginia Education Association quarterly, Inside Higher Education, AHEAD's HUB, and has multiple upcoming publications in JPED.

Chris is the current president-elect of Virginia AHEAD. He has presented at AHEAD nationally and locally, Accessing Higher Ground, Postsecondary Training Institute, TASH's Advancing Inclusion conference, and has been an invited speaker for AHEAD, VHEAP, and the Office of Civil Rights. Topics he is passionate and effective in discussing include AI in education, Assessment, Belonging, Research & Assessment, the interactive process, chronic illness, and caselaw at the OCR over time.