Jan Little,
MS
Born: 1939
On October 16,
2003 our colleague, Jan Little passed quietly away. A memorial service was held
in her home town of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Jan was one of
the pioneers of the disability movement. She was part of the many success
stories that came out of Tim Nugent's programs for students with disability at
the University of Illinois. Jan participated in the early Paralympic Games and
was among RESNA's founders. She was highly successful in business and was an
accomplished writer and artist. In recent years, Jan assisted our
Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Children with Orthopedic
Disabilities at Northwestern University by preparing and publishing the RERC's
newsletter, Capabilities. Jan's multi-faceted involvement with our
laboratory when she was living in Chicago dates back almost 30 years. She was a
strong person and will be greatly missed.
Below are some
excerpts from RESNA past president Dr. Dudly S. Childress's presentation of the
RESNA Fellow Award to Jan Little in 1994.
"After a brief
journalism career that included the National Sporting Goods Association, Jan
became CEO of Medical Equipment Distributers (MED), a Chicago-based association
of national companies that fitted, delivered, and provided services in
assistive technology products for persons with disability. This put her in
position to be one of the pioneers in the rehabilitation engineering /
technology field, which was in its infancy in 1971. As CEO of MED, she opened
US markets to inderused and innovative technology imports from Europe. For
example, she imported one of the first sip-and-puff powered wheelchairs to the
USA from England and this import marked a new era in the mobility of persons
with profound quadriplegia. Jan Little also pioneered eraly tech transfer from
research labs to the rehabilitation industry, particularly from the new
Rehabilitation Engineering Program that had just been established in 1972 at
the Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago. This included new
wheelchair controls, environmental control systems, and computer
interfaces."
"In 1981, I was
the Chairman of the 4th annual meeting, which was held in Washington, DC. It
was the first year that RESNA was 'on its own' to sponsor the annual conference
and prepare the proceedings without administrative assistance and on a
showstring budget. Jan was one of my chief assistants in organizing and
managing the meeting. In fact, Jan herself, at no cost to the Society, did the
artwork and illustrations for the cover of the Proceedings. It was a
do-it-yourself event. We were scared that we might not break even because we
had no money as back up and didn't know what would happen if the event lost
money. I can still remember Jan wheeling up to me on the last day of the
meeting, and asking if I wanted to know how we had done financially. She said,
'Well Dudley', and there was a long pause, 'we made $40,000'! RESNA's first
fling with independence had been successful with Jan as a big contributor.
Apparently, that was the International Year of Disabled Persons. Sometimes, if
you're lucky, there are greatjoys and memories associated with being a pioneer
in a fledgling organization."
"Jan Little was
truly one of the great pionners of the rehabilitation field. It is a pround day
for RESNA to recognize her as a Fellow at the Society. Congratulations, Jan,
and Godspeed."
In Memory of RESNA Fellow Jan
Little 1939 - 2003
From: RESNA News
Submitted by: Gerry
Dickerson
Jan Little, MS (deceased 2003):
Winner of 6 gold medals in swimming; silver medals in archery; and represented
the USA. on five US Wheelchair Teams to the Paralympics, competing in England,
France, Spain, Japan, and South Africa.
Northwestern
University - Capabilities - Volume 17, Number 3, Summer 2009
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