Dennis Cleary, OTD, MS, OTR, is the founding program director for the graduate program in Occupational Therapy. He brings over 20 years of experience as a practicing occupational therapist, including 13 years as a faculty member at The Ohio State University. He maintains a clinical practice supporting children and adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in work, home, and community settings. He works to test and refine methods to support young adults in academic, social and work environments through the use of technology, activity analysis, education and job-matching strategies. He has received over $7.5 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Institutes of Health and state and local agencies as a principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or consultant. He is a co-investigator on a clinical trial funded by the NIH to support young adults with disabilities find and maintain employment. He has over forty presentations at national and international meeting and has 14 peer-reviewed publications. He is committed to creating a student-centered, community-focused occupational therapy program to meet the unique needs of 21st century learners, patients and society.