Margaret Giannini

Margaret Joan Giannini (May 27, 1921 – November 22, 2021) was an American physician and a specialist in assistive technology and rehabilitation. She was the first director of the National Institute of Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

Margaret Giannini
Giannini at an awards event in 2018
Born	Margaret Joan Giannini (1921-05-27)May 27, 1921 Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	November 22, 2021(2021-11-22) (aged 100) San Diego, California, U.S.
Other names	Peg Giannini
Occupation(s)	Physician, medical researcher, government official
Relatives	Vittorio Giannini (cousin), Dusolina Giannini (cousin)

Early life and education

Margaret Giannini was born in Camden, New Jersey, the daughter of Francesco (Francis) and Rose Antonia Giordano Giannini. Both of her parents were born in Italy. Composer Vittorio Giannini and his sister, singer Dusolina Giannini, were her older cousins.^[1] She attended Camden High School,^[2] Boston University and Temple University, and earned her medical degree in 1945 at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital.^[3][4]

Career

Medical career

Giannini served her internship at the New York Medical College, where she became a professor of pediatrics, with an early specialty in pediatric oncology. In 1950, after hearing the frustrations of her patients' families, she founded the Mental Retardation Institute, a multidisciplinary clinic to treat people with intellectual disabilities, including classrooms, dental care, and social work services.^[5] As the center's director, she raised funds, hired specialists, and oversaw research projects. The institute served as a model for research centers funded under Public Law 88–164.^[6] The Mental Retardation Institute is now the Westchester Institute for Human Development.^[7]

Giannini helped organize and lead the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD), and University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service (UCEDD). She was president of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, and the American Association of University Affiliate Programs.^[8] She was inter-regional advisor to the United Nations on disability and technology.^[9]

Giannini appeared in medical videos including The Seattle Foot (1980), Audiology (1984),^[10] and Environmental Medicine (1985).^[11] She co-wrote a manual, Choosing a Wheelchair System (1990).^[12] She also co-wrote the textbooks Neonatal Neurology (1981)^[13] and Behavioral Neurology in the Elderly (2001).^[14] Her scholarly articles appeared in journals including Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics,^[8] the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,^[15] and Cortex.^[16] She chaired the editorial board of the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.^[17]

Presidential appointments and awards

Giannini became director of the National Institute of Handicapped Research (now NIDRR) in 1980, appointed by Jimmy Carter.^[9] In 1981, she became director of the Veterans Administration's Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, during the Reagan administration; she received a Distinguished Service Award for her "pioneering and innovative efforts in the disability field", presented to her by Harold Russell.^[18] She retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1991.^[17] In 2001 she became the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, appointed by George W. Bush. She became Director of the Office on Disability when the office was launched in 2002.^[7][19]

In 1960, Giannini was named Woman of the Year by the American Women's Medical Association.^[20] The Seton Hill College Alumnae Association awarded Giannini the Elizabeth Seton Medal in 1983.^[21] In 1987, she won the Goldenson Award for Technology from United Cerebral Palsy, and the Everest & Jennings Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America.^[18] In 2018, she was the first recipient of the Award for Lifetime Achievement in Advancing Community Living, presented to her by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar at an event marking the fortieth anniversary of the NIDILRR (formerly NIDRR).^[22]

Personal life

Giannini married fellow physician Louis Joseph Salerno in New York City in 1948.^[3] They had four sons,^[7] Salerno died in 1988.^[23]

She died at home in San Diego, California on November 22, 2021, at the age of 100.^[24]

References

1. "Dr. M. J. Giannini Engaged to Marry". The New York Times. December 16, 1947. p. 45 – via ProQuest.
2. "Students to Give Musical Comedy". The Morning Post. 1938-04-28. p. 17. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Dr. Margaret Giannini is Wed to a Physician". The New York Times. 1948-02-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
4. Hahnemann Medical College (1982). Medic : the 1982 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College. Archives and Special Collections Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center. [Philadelphia, PA : Hahnemann Medical College]. p. 288.
5. Fields, Sidney (1975-09-16). "Only Human: It's not Hopeless Anymore". Daily News. p. 36. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Okon, May (1970-03-15). "The Children Who Never Grow". Daily News. p. 371. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Ouellette, Eileen M. "Margaret J. Giannini, MD", Gartner Pediatric History Center Oral History Project (March 8, 2007).
8. Giannini, Margaret (1984). "Transfer of Rehabilitation Research and Development Results into Clinical Practice". Clinical Prosthetics & Orthotics. 8: 1–3.
9. United States Congress Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources (1980). Nomination: Hearing Before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session, on Margaret J. Giannini, of New York, to be Director of the National Institute of Handicapped Research, January 23, 1980. U.S. Government Printing Office.
10. Giannini, Margaret Joan; Spitzer, Jaclyn B; Engebretson, A. Maynard (1984). Audiology. Washington, D.C.: Veterans Administration. OCLC 11985988.
11. Louria, Donald B; Burnstein, Walter; Schwartz, Harry; Giannini, Margaret Joan; Kallet, Mary (1985), Environmental medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders, OCLC 12788948, retrieved 2021-07-16
12. Giannini, Margaret Joan; Todd, Seldon P (1990). Choosing a wheelchair system. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Office of Technology Transfer. OCLC 656841558.
13. Coleman, Mary; Baska, Richard E; Randall, Jno; Giannini, Margaret (1981). Neonatal neurology. Baltimore: University Park. ISBN 978-0-8391-1584-7. OCLC 981410348.
14. León-Carrión, José; Giannini, Margaret Joan (2001). Behavioral neurology in the elderly. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2066-8. OCLC 46565986.
15. Michal-Smith, Harold; Giannini, Margaret J.; Slobody, Lawrence B. (July 1957). "The relationship of the Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital Clinic for Mentally Retarded Children to a community-wide program in an urban setting". American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 27 (3): 502–507. doi:10.1111/j.1939-0025.1957.tb05515.x. ISSN 1939-0025. PMID 13444439.
16. Richlin, Milton; Weisinger, Marvin; Weinstein, Sidney; Giannini, Margaret; Morganstern, Murry (1971-03-01). "Interhemispheric Asymmetries of Evoked Cortical Responses in Retarded and Normal Children". Cortex. 7 (1): 98–105. doi:10.1016/S0010-9452(71)80025-4. ISSN 0010-9452. PMID 5567820.
17. Burgess, Ernest M. (1991). "Editorial: Margaret J. Giannini, M.D." Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development. 28: vii. doi:10.1682/JRRD.1991.07.0007.
18. DiChristina, Mariette (1987-07-31). "Doctor Reaps Honors for Work with Vets". The Daily Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
19. Reynolds, Dave (August 2, 2002). "HHS Opens New Office on Disability" Inclusion Daily Express.
20. Powderly, Patricia (1962-06-08). "It's Busy Life for '60 Woman of the Year". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 23. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
21. "Alumnae Group Lauds Dr. Giannini". The Daily Times. 1983-06-10. p. 29. Retrieved 2021-07-16 – via Newspapers.com.
22. "Celebrating 40 Years of NIDILRR". ACL Administration for Community Living. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
23. "Dr. Louis J. Salerno: Pelham Manor Physician". The Herald Statesman. 1988-06-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-07-17 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Seelye, Katharine Q. (11 December 2021). "Margaret Giannini, Champion of People With Disabilities, Dies at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 December 2021.

External links

• Margaret Giannini, address to the White House/VA Conference "Emerging Technologies in Support of the New Freedom Initiative: Promoting Opportunities for People with Disabilities" (October 13–14, 2004)
• Margaret Giannini speaking on Family Caregivers at a 2003 town hall meeting, from C-SPAN Video Library