Aaron Bishop named commissioner of the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Waisman Communications

Former Waisman Center Project Coordinator and trainee Aaron Bishop named Commissioner of the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Aaron Bishop, a former trainee in the Waisman Center’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program a graduate of the UW School of Social Work, was recently named Commissioner of the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD). AIDD provides financial and leadership support to organizations in every state and territory in the United States to ensure that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families can fully participate in and contribute to all aspects of community life. Bishop has served as the AIDD’s Acting Commissioner since November 2013.

For nearly 20 years, Bishop has worked with and for individuals with disabilities. He served as the Project Coordinator for the Waisman Center’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities where he managed projects that advanced the rights of individuals with disabilities.

“My graduate school experience at the Waisman Center had a significant impact on my personal and professional aspirations,” Bishop said in 2010. “It was where my passion for the disability field, systems change, and policy development were born.”

Bishop received his Master of Science in Social Work degree, with an emphasis in public policy, and two Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was also the recipient of the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Forward Under 40 award in 2010, given to alumni who make an impact on the world by living the Wisconsin Idea.