Tamar Heller, Ph.D., Professor, is Head of the Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago.  She also directs the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities and projects on support interventions for individuals with disabilities and their families. In addition she is director of the University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities for the State of Illinois.

Dr. Heller has written over 150 publications and presented over 200 papers at major conferences on family support interventions and policies, self-determination, health promotion, and aging of people with developmental disabilities. She has co-edited and co-written four books and edited special issues of Technology and Disability, American Journal on Mental Retardation, Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, and Family Relations.   She was a delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging and will be the incoming President-Elect of the board of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.