Royal P. Walker Jr. executive director of the Institute for Disability Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, received the 2012 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Association of University Centers on Disabilities. He was honored for his teaching, scholarship, and service to the wider community. Walker is a past president of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities.
Walker has led the Institute for Disability Studies since 2008. He is a graduate of Jackson State University and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston.
