Dr. JR Harding

JR Harding, Ed. D-Tallahassee, Florida

Teaching Faculty II, College of Business, Florida State University

Accessibility Consultant and Speaker

Dr. Harding is a ‘go-to’ leader within the disability community from both personal and professional experience. He has shaped national, state, and community public policy to advance the independence and self-sufficiency of persons with disabilities for nearly 4 decades. He is a former 2x U.S. Presidential Appointee, 7x Florida Gubernatorial Appointee, and Author of two five-star books (Now What? & ADA Adventure). As a 2x quadriplegic, he strives to lead by example.

He presently teaches the nationally recognized course, MAN 4310 (Workforce Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities), MAN 4143 (Contemporary Leadership), and IDS 1107 (Engage 100) which assists first-year students with disabilities transitioning into post-secondary education. He also serves on several national, state, and community boards. This service includes but is not limited to; Delta Airlines Disability Advisory Board, Florida Network on Disabilities (FND), Evergreen Life Services (ELS), Tony J Mason Foundation, and serves as the faculty advisor to the FSU University of Choice (UoC) Initiative for students with and without disabilities.

Some of his past contributions include but are not limited to; the 2002 James Patrick Memorial Program, co-authoring the 2004 National Accessibility Guidelines, the 2006 Volunteer Voting Accessibility Guidelines, the 2008 Outdoor Accessibility Guidelines, the 2014 Refueling Assistance Act, and the 2015 Florida Able Act. Additionally, he serves as a grant reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) and the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation.

He and his wife Erika live and work in Tallahassee, Florida.