Awards

The Jon Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who reflects the spirit and legacy of the late Jon Peterson — a selfless leader, a natural connector, and a champion of collaboration. Peterson was known for turning ideas into action and for helping others bring meaningful solutions to life.

Elected in 1998, Representative Peterson served five terms in the Ohio House of Representatives and later as Delaware County Treasurer. Among his many accomplishments, he played a pivotal role in sponsoring the legislation that established OCALI. This effort grew directly from the testimonies of hundreds of Ohio families who shared their personal experiences with the Ohio Autism Task Force.

Representative Peterson went on to serve for several years as chair of OCALI’s governing board and received OCALI’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Following his passing in 2019, the award was renamed the Jon Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his enduring impact.

Fred Volkmar
Irving B. Harris Professor Emeritus Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., is the Dorothy Goodwin Family Chair in Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, and the Irving B. Harris Professor Emeritus of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven. An international authority on autism, Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He has authored several hundred scientific papers and has co-edited numerous books, including Asperger Syndrome, Healthcare for Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Guide to Medical, Nutritional, and Behavioral Issues, and the forthcoming revised new edition of the Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. He serves as associate editor of the Journal of Autism, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He served as editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders for 15 years. He also has served as co-chairperson of the autism/MR committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has also served as editor of the Encyclopedia of Autism now in its 2nd edition. The new edition of the Handbook of Autism, which he edits, will appear in 2026.