October 7, 2024

Colleagues of Maureen Linden at the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation (CIDI) gathered to celebrate her time with the Center and wish her well as she moves to the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). At NIDILRR, Linden will help shape research priorities for disability and rehabilitation research for the nation, oversee federal grant awardees, and facilitate competitive proposal review processes.

"Maureen built a career at Georgia Tech that helped people with disabilities fully participate in society — and the clinicians who help them — through the novel use of emerging technologies," said Ellen Bassett, John Portman Chair and dean of the College of Design. "Her work has created industry consensus standards, defined performance requirements for durable medical equipment and assistive technology, and supported the online community of practice for the assistive technology network."

"Anyone who knows Maureen can see how passionately she believes in CIDI’s core mission of improving the human condition through equal access to technology-based and research-driven information, services, and products for individuals with disabilities. She focused on that mission as the executive director — and did it so well that she caught the attention of NIDILRR."

Linden stepped down as Executive Director on September 4th. Zerrin Ondin has agreed to be the new interim executive director.

"As Maureen Linden moves on to her next opportunity, we would like to thank her for the contributions she has made to CIDI," Ondin said. "Her work in inclusive design and assistive technology has been valuable and appreciated. Maureen's efforts have supported the mission of CIDI, and her presence will be missed. We wish her the best in her future endeavors and continued success in her career."