Skip to main content

Dr. Stephen Hooper, chair of the Department of Allied Health Sciences and associate dean in the UNC School of Medicine, has received the 2016 Distinguished Service Award.

Dr. Stephen Hooper, chair of the Department of Allied Health Sciences and associate dean in the UNC School of Medicine, has received the 2016 Distinguished Service Award from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Exceptional Children Division.

Sherry Thomas, assistant director of the Exceptional Children Division said Hooper has made significant contributions to the education of exceptional children in several ways, including leadership, evaluation services, and educational research. Thomas said Hooper is an internationally renowned expert in child neuropsychology, with much of his research devoted to families whose children face developmental disabilities.

Thomas also noted Hooper’s contributions to school and clinical psychologists, particularly implementation of training procedures in pediatric traumatic brain injury for school psychologists. For that initiative, Hooper designed 36 hours of didactic training and 30 hours of case-based supervision for North Carolina school psychologists. This preparation program was the first of its kind in the nation and now is accessible online to school psychologists across the state.