Richard Petty, MBA, is Director of the IL-NET Training and Technical Assistance (IL-NET T&TA) Center for Independent Living, Director of the National Center for Aging and Disability (NCAD) at TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research), and Co-Director of ILRU at TIRR. The IL-NET T&TA Center is the single national technical assistance and training resource for independent living organizations that foster community independence for people with disabilities, including centers for independent living (CILs) and statewide independent living councils (SILCs). The National Center for Aging and Disability addresses the need for community service programs for persons with disabilities who are aging and of those who acquire disabilities as they age. ILRU at TIRR conducts research pertaining to community living for people with disabilities of all ages and fosters translation of that research into practice through community-based organizations.
Petty serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in the McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). He has directed the National Resource Center for Participant‑Directed Services and served as Research Professor in the School of Social Work at Boston College. He has directed the ILRU New Community Opportunities Center, a national center that fosters innovative community programs and adult and youth transitions from institution to community. Petty served as Executive Director of Mainstream, an advocacy‑oriented center for independent living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a founding member of the Arkansas Statewide Independent Living Council and served as a lobbyist and advocate working to advance consumer‑controlled community services for persons with disabilities. Petty holds an MBA degree from the C. T. Bauer School of Business at the University of Houston.
