Elizabeth DePoy is professor of social work and interdisciplinary disability studies and also holds an appointment as Senior Research Fellow at Ono Academic College, Research Institute for Health and Medical Professions, Kiryat Ono, Israel. Dr. DePoy is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in research and evaluation methods and original theory in the fields of disability, diversity, and design. Co-authored with Stephen Gilson, DePoy developed Explanatory Legitimacy Theory which analyzes how population group membership is assigned, based on political purpose, and met with formal responses that serve both intentionally and unintentionally to perpetuate segregation, economic… status quo, and inter-group tension. Dr. DePoy is currently working on her 12th book, has contributed many chapters to edited collections, and has over 100 articles published in peer-reviewed journals. She has earned over 7 million dollars in extramural research grants at the University of Maine. In the service arena, Dr. DePoy provides evaluation, research and grant-writing consultation to agencies and organizations.