ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Council for Disability Concerns has announced that U-M law professor Samuel Bagenstos will receive the 2012 James T. Neubacher Award in recognition of his highly effective advocacy and considerable scholarship on disability rights.

U-M Regent Julia Donovan Darlow will present the Neubacher to Bagenstos at 10 a.m. Oct. 26 in the 4th floor Assembly Hall of the Rackham Graduate School.

Following a stint as visiting professor at the U-M Law School in 2008, Bagenstos joined the law faculty in 2009—a post he left temporarily for two years to serve as principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of Justice. At DoJ, he was responsible for appellate, disability rights and special litigation. His major achievements included promulgation of the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, the first comprehensive ADA update since its passage in 1991.

Bagenstos also championed vigorous enforcement of Olmstead v. L.C., the landmark 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guarantees people with disabilities the right to live and receive services in the most integrated setting appropriate. He has testified before Congress in support of the Fair Pay Restoration Act, the ADA Amendments Act, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the problem of mental illness in prisons and the ADA’s application to advancing technology.

At U-M, Bagenstos specializes in civil rights law, public law and litigation. He also continues to litigate at the appellate and Supreme Court levels in civil rights and federalism cases on issues such as the constitutionality of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Established in 1990 by the Council for Disability Concerns and co-sponsored by the Office of the President, the Neubacher Award memorializes and celebrates the accomplishments of U-M alumnus and Detroit Free Press columnist James T. Neubacher, who advocated tirelessly for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.