HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Margaret Ann "Peg" Nosek (January 25, 1952 – November 21, 2020) was an American academic and
disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...
activist based in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas.


Early life and education

Nosek was born in
Schenectady, New York Schenectady ( ) is a City (New York), city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-most populo ...
, the daughter of Stanley Michael Nosek and Regina Ann Nosek (née Bernatowicz). Her father was a mechanical engineer."Obituary: Margaret Ann Nosek"
''ACRM'' (November 25, 2020).
She was diagnosed at age 2 with a progressive form of
spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common geneti ...
, and used a wheelchair. She was raised in Ohio, and graduated from
Baldwin Wallace College Baldwin Wallace University (BW) is a private university in Berea, Ohio, United States. Established in 1845 as Baldwin Institute by Methodist businessman John Baldwin, it merged with nearby German Wallace College in 1913 to become Baldwin-Wallac ...
in
Berea, Ohio Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,545 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A western suburb of Cleveland, it is a part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropolitan area. Berea is home ...
in 1974, with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...
degree. She earned a master's degree in music history from
Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...
in 1976. She moved to Texas to pursue a doctorate in
music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
; she instead completed a second master's degree, in rehabilitation counseling, in 1982, and a doctorate in rehabilitation research, in 1984. In 1993, she was named one of the Outstanding Young Texas Exes by the university's alumni association.


Career

Nosek, an accomplished composer, oboeist and recorder player, taught music courses at Baldwin Wallace College while she was in graduate school in Cleveland and Austin in the 1970s. She worked with disability rights activists including
Judith Heumann Judith Ellen "Judy" Heumann (; December 18, 1947March 4, 2023) was an American disability rights activist, known as the "Mother of the Disability Rights Movement". She was recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Heuma ...
,
Lex Frieden Lex Frieden (born March 5, 1949) is an American educator, researcher, disability policy expert and disability rights activist. Frieden has been called "a chief architect of the Americans with Disabilities Act." He is also regarded as a founder and ...
, Ed Roberts, and Justin Dart in the 1980s, in the organizing and strategizing leading to the
Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
in 1990. She was co-author, with
Yoshiko Dart Yoshiko Saji Dart is a disability rights activist and one of the people instrumental advocating for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Dart's original work with people with disabilities was as translator, and then executive assistant to the Pr ...
, Yayoi Narita, and Justin Dart, on an influential working paper, "A Philosophical Foundation for the Independent Living & Disability Rights Movements" (1982). In 1983, she testified before a Congressional hearing on access to voting for disabled citizens, and participated in a public transit protest in
El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...
. Nosek was a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at
Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...
. She was director of Baylor's Independent Living Research Use Program, and director Baylor's Center for Research on Women with Disabilities, which she founded in 1993. She was also an adjunct professor in the College of Nursing at
Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a Public research university, public coeducational research university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, ...
in Denton. In 2014 she joined the staff at TIRR Memorial Hermann, to create a dedicated women's program in the hospital's outpatient clinic. She was president of Health Care for All Texas, and in her later years became interested in the possibilities of
Second Life ''Second Life'' is a multiplayer virtual world that allows people to create an Avatar (computing), avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user-created content within a multi-user online environment. Developed for person ...
for organizing and outreach to people with physical disabilities. Nosek held grants from the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
and the
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) is a United States governmental agency that provides leadership and support for a comprehensive program of research related to the rehabilitation o ...
. She received the Disability Achievement Award from the
American Public Health Association The American Public Health Association (APHA) is a Washington, D.C.–based professional membership and advocacy organization for public health professionals in the United States. APHA is the largest professional organization of public health pr ...
in 2007, and the 2017 Garrett Award from the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association. In 2018, Nosek was an inspiration and central figure in "Breath", a site-specific work of music, dance, and visual arts, performed at
Rothko Chapel The Rothko Chapel is a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art: on its walls are fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko in ...
in Houston.


Personal life

Nosek described her domestic life in a 2009 essay titled "A Happy Compromise", explaining how she lived with several paid longterm attendants and their children, to whom she was close. "It takes about 60 percent of my salary to live like this, but I happily pay because it's the price of my freedom," she wrote. She died in 2020, aged 68 years, in Houston.


References


External links


"Margaret Nosek, PhD, gives a call to action about disability and climate change"
(April 22, 2020), a video posted by Sustain Our Abilities, on YouTube.
"Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Under Attack: What Do We Do, Fight Back! (Part 1)"
(February 3, 2012), a video featuring Margaret Nosek, on YouTube.
"Coalition of Texans with Disabilities Delegate Assembly 1983 Resolutions"
a document in the Texas Disability History Collection, University of Texas at Arlington. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nosek, Margaret 1952 births 2020 deaths American disability rights activists University of Texas at Austin alumni Baylor College of Medicine faculty People from Schenectady, New York People from Berea, Ohio Activists from Houston Baldwin Wallace University alumni People with spinal muscular atrophy Case Western Reserve University alumni Scholars and academics with disabilities American activists with disabilities