Faculty member Amy Hebert Knopf and visiting professor Xuan Zheng are the inaugural George H.W. Bush Disability Policy Fellows at The Harkin Institute.
She is working with Xuan Zheng to research aimed to build support for people with disabilities in China by examining the core values and principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Hebert Knopf is an associate professor and program coordinator for the rehabilitation and addiction counseling program and is serving as chair of the Department of Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy.
Zheng is an associate professor for the special education department at Chongquig Normal University in Chongquig, China, and is serving as a visiting professor at St. Cloud State through the Confucius Institute. She is the first person who is deaf to receive a Ph.D. in linguistics in China.
Focusing specifically on people who are deaf, Zheng and Hebert Knopf will analyze the Chinese government’s efforts in improving the education and employment for people with disabilities, teacher training and bilingual and bicultural deaf education. She is considered a pioneer by her academic peers.
Hebert Knopf’s research will focus on vocational rehabilitation outcomes in the United States, primarily the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  Zheng’s primary focus will analyze services and outcomes for people who are deaf in a comparative analysis between China and the United States.
Hebert Knopf and Zheng are two of three fellows at The Harkin Institute this year. The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement at Drake University is dedicated to the study of issues that define public life and to engaging students and citizens in constructive dialogue regarding these issues.
