Story 27 - Gary Sherman

The son of the late Milton and Margaret Sherman, Gary was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Limon, Colorado. Coming to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was the result of an opportunity to work in the athletic training room as a student trainer. During his college years, Gary was involved in a campus leadership group where he met Dr. Clifton. Through their work together, Dr. Clifton encouraged Gary to get involved in an NHRI project, Orthopedic Project in particular, dedicated to building relationships between college students and patients at the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital.

During his graduate work in Educational Psychology, Gary became even more deeply involved with the Orthopedic Project. He and other college students would spend Tuesday evenings at Orthopedic Hospital building friendships with the patients. Gary recalls Orthopedic Project's distinction from other projects, in that, college students involved did not just build a relationship with one person, but with many considering the patient turnover.

Gary married his high school sweetheart, Cynthia, and the two settled in Lincoln. He accepted a position as the Education Director at Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital and continued his work with the Orthopedic Project. In 1971, the Orthopedic Project came to a crossroads. Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital was scheduled to close its doors, and it appeared that Orthopedic Project would likely disband. Unsatisfied with this scenario, Gary met with Dr. Dodge and presented the idea of building the Orthopedic Project in a similar way to other projects, where college students would work with a junior counselor (or "counselee" as it was called then) one-on-one for three years. Dr. Dodge agreed, so Gary went to work identifying young students to serve as junior counselors who happen to have a physical disability. This became the advent of what became PALS Project.

During that same time period, Gary accepted a position as Coordinator of Federal Special Education Programs for the State of Nebraska. In 1975, he was promoted to Director of Special Education for the State of Nebraska. During his tenure in this role, Gary was instrumental in the passage of State legislation making Nebraska one of the first states to mandate a free public education for children with disabilities from birth to age 21. In addition, Gary provided guidance in implementation of a reimbursement procedure where the State provided 90% of the excess cost of educating children with disabilities. This practice in Nebraska was quite progressive and superior to most other states. Then came the passage of federal legislation, now referred to as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), which added new challenges and requirements. Of all his counterparts across the nation, Gary has served the longest in this role.

Gary has spent his entire adulthood providing opportunities for students with disabilities to reach their full potential. Countless NHRI students involved in PALS Project have confidently declared that their ability to see potential beyond any physical disability stems largely from their PALS experience.

Gary Sherman was the 2009 recipient of the Talent Plus/William E. Hall Distinguished Alumni Award. Gary has dedicated a lifetime to the Nebraska Human Resources Institute and has devoted countless hours to building and developing students in the PALS Project.