(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry R. Foxhoven on Friday announced that he has appointed Jerry A. Rea as superintendent of the Glenwood Resource Center.

Iowa has two resource centers that provide a full range of active treatment and habilitation services to individuals with severe intellectual disabilities. The resource centers, at Glenwood in southwest Iowa and Woodward in the north-central part of the state, support individuals to live safe, successful lives in the home and community of their choice.

“Dr. Rea has vast experience overseeing operations at a state hospital and serving individuals with intellectual disabilities and mental health needs,” said Foxhoven. “He is committed to offering an array of supports and services to individuals with the most severe disabilities.”

Dr. Rea will begin his duties the week of September 11, 2017. He brings to the Glenwood role 13 years of experience as superintendent at Parsons State Hospital and Training Center in Kansas. Prior to that, he was the program director/manager at Parsons from 1991 to 2004.  In addition, from August 2013 through August 2015, Dr. Rea served as the superintendent for both Parsons and the Osawatomie State Hospital and Rainbow Mental Health Facility.

He also recently served as an Adjunct Research Scientist at the University of Kansas and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Wichita State University. He is the lead author of many publications on services for individuals with developmental disabilities, and has presented his research at conferences across the United States and Canada.

Dr. Rea was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in child development and child psychology in 1996. He also holds a master’s degree in special education from the University of Kansas, and a bachelor’s of science in psychology from the Oregon College of Education.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Dr. Rea to Iowa, and are confident his years of operations and research experience will benefit the more than 200 Iowans Glenwood Resource Center serves, and the service system as a whole,” said Rick Shults, administrator of Mental Health and Disability Services for Iowa.