DAVID BRUCE McMAHAN

David Bruce McMahan is a leader in using technology to improve the education of people with disabilities. In the first instance of this he arranged for an Apple IIe to be installed in a classroom. Previously children with a variety of ailments had relied on adults to help them write and draw, but with access to a personal computer they were liberated from such helplessness.

The computer made a huge difference for the children. They behaved with more independence and became more outgoing. David Bruce McMahan's established the National Christina Foundation in 1985, and in the two decades since its inception, the National Cristina Foundation has helped thousands of people all over the world. It has out grown its original designation and now works with an International Agenda.

David Bruce McMahan believes that anyone applying the talents that they have can discover who they are and that many with opportunities to express those talents will be able to develop independence and autonomy, and live richer and more rewarding lives.

McMahan is the son of Richard A. McMahan, the former owner and president of McMahan Furniture, a California-based retail chain now owned by Heilig-Meyers. He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1960, where he was a Phi Kappa Psi, and in 1992 received a Ph.D. in Labor Economics from the Union Institute.