Brooke Ellison, an accomplished disability advocate and the first person with quadriplegia to graduate from Harvard, left an immense, world-changing legacy behind.
Reflecting on Ellison’s impact, Dr. Chris Rosa, President & CEO of The Viscardi Center shared: “Her personal story of striving for independent living—achieving academic and professional excellence and sharing incisive social commentary about access, opportunity, and the intrinsic dignity of the disability experience—resonates deeply for people with disabilities and their families.”
At age 11, Ellison became paralyzed after being hit by a car while walking to school on her first day of junior high. She survived and thrived, and after graduating high school, was admitted to Harvard University where she graduated with honors and received a B.S. in cognitive neuroscience. She later earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard, followed by a doctorate in sociology from Stony Brook University (SBU) in 2012.
Ellison was an associate professor in SBU’s School of Health Professions and a research assistant professor in SBU’s Renaissance School of Medicine. She also served as director of Education and Ethics of the SBU Stem Cell Facility and cofounded the SBU VENTure Think Tank that works to develop policy and technological solutions for people on ventilators.
Ellison’s parents, Edward and Jean, who graciously took the time to speak with Able News after their daughter’s passing in February 2024, lovingly said that keeping up with their daughter was a “remarkable ride.”
“She worked from the moment she woke up until she went to sleep at night,” shared her father. “I believe she wanted to squeeze in as much as she could in the world she lived in and affect as many people as quickly as possible because she never knew when she might leave this world.”
Indeed, Ellison’s efforts reached far and wide. Outside of her duties at SBU, Ellison served on New York State’s Spinal Cord Injury Research Board, the New York Civil Liberties Union Board, and the Empire State Stem Cell Board. She was also politically active, and ran for the New York State Senate in 2006. And, she was the Vice President of Technology and Innovation at United Spinal, where she led their Tech Access Initiative.
In 2002, Ellison wrote her first book, “Miracles Happen: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey,” with her mother. Christopher Reeve later adapted the book into a poignant movie, “The Brooke Ellison Story.” In 2021, she published a second book, “Look Both Ways.” In her writing, Ellison encapsulated her experiences as a person with a disability, aiming to encourage people to rethink their perceptions. Building on the common disability rallying cry of “nothing about us, without us,” Ellison’s mother shared that her call to action was “nothing without us—people with disabilities should be included in all aspects of life.”
Ellison’s efforts to educate truly moved the needle on conversations about disability and upheld the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Her scholarship on disability identity and the lived experience of disability is transformative,” said Dr. Rosa. “She will always remain with us through the sheer power of her paradigm-shifting ideas.”
Read all 35 stories of the New York-based leaders profiled in our ADA 35 edition.