Professional Advisory Committee

Mary Farrell, Ph.D., oversees the New Jersey Learning Centers, which are also affiliated with Fairleigh Dickinson University. In addition, she chairs the Learning Center Program's Graduate Credit Committee. She is a Professor in the School of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson, where she currently serves as Interim Director. She also directs the Dyslexia Specialist Certificate Program.

Marcia Henry, Ph.D., is a past President of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) and a recipient of IDA's Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award. A Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, she has been active in tutoring and tutor training, and has authored numerous books and journal articles.

Michael McCanna, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in Northfield, Illinois and is an Adjunct Professor of Learning Disabilities at Northwestern University. He specializes in child and family behavior therapy as well as in social-emotional, psycho-educational, and cognitive assessments. He has extensive experience with the relationship of attention disorders and learning disabilities.

Phyllis Meisel, Director of Training, has been involved with the Learning Center Program since its inception. In addition to her work with the program - including being the Center Director of the Greater Boston Learning Center - she is the Director of the Reading Disabilities Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, and is the Secretary and an Executive Committee member of the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council.

Claire Nissenbaum is the founding director of the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center in Rockville, Maryland. A Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, she is past Vice-President of the International Multisensory Structured Language Educational Council. She specializes in dyslexia education and training, including curriculum and program development.

Joyce Pickering, D. Hum., is the executive director of the Shelton School & Evaluation Center in Dallas, Texas. She is also president of the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) and played a role in developing the organization's accreditation standards.

John Wm. McNaughton , Chief Executive of the Northern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Masons. As such, he is also President of the Masonic Learning Centers for Children, Inc.

David C. Winters, Ph.D., Chairman of the Professional Advisory Committee, is the Executive Director of Clinical Affairs for the Learning Center Program. A Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, he has more than 23 years' experience tutoring and diagnosing dyslexia and other learning disabilities in children and adults, as well as conducting training in the Orton-Gillingham approach.

Return to Top ^