At the inception of his career in 1962, Dr. James M. Kauffman served as a teacher in the children’s division of the Menninger Clinic, the Southard School, for two years. With his expertise in special education and behavioral disorders, he taught at the Shawnee Heights Unified School District #450 for the following three years. Escalating to the collegiate level, he became an assistant professor of special education at Illinois State University in 1969 before transferring to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he would remain for the rest of his career. Hired first as an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in 1970, he rose to the rank of associate professor in 1973 and full professor in 1980. During his tenure, he also excelled as chairman of the Department of Special Education from 1977 to 1981 and associate dean for research within the School of Education from 1981 to 1984. He held chaired professorships and became professor emeritus in 2003.
Dr. Kauffman draws upon a Bachelor of Science in education from Goshen College, a Master of Education in teaching in the elementary school from Washburn University and a Doctor of Education in special education from the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Civically engaged, he has been a member of the Council for Exceptional Children and the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, for which he served as vice president and president between 1988 and 1991. Likewise, he is a past president of the Society for Learning Disabilities and Remedial Education and has held memberships in the American Educational Research Association and the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities, among other professional organizations.
A proven leader in his field, Dr. Kauffman has also authored, co-authored and edited a number of publications, and he has served as a consulting editor for many professional journals and as editor of several. Recently in 2020, he edited “On Educational Inclusion: Meanings, History, Issues and International Perspectives” and authored “Cyber Abuse: The Dr. Laura Letter.” He served as senior editor of the journal “Remedial and Special Education” from 1979 to 1987, associate editor of the journal “Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities” from 1979 to 1983, and co-editor of the journal “Behavioral Disorders” from 1999 to 2002.
In recognition of his astounding accomplishments, Dr. Kauffman has received several accolades. In 2011, he was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Kansas School of Education, and in 2006, he received the Award for Effective Presentation of Behavior Analysis in the Mass Media from the Society for Applied Behavior Analysis. Likewise, the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavioral Disorders gave him their Outstanding Service Award in 1991, the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders bestowed upon him an Outstanding Leadership Award in 2002, and the Council for Exceptional Children gave him its Research Award in 1994 and two Publication Awards in 1990 and 1998. Dr. Kauffman has taught and lectured in Australia, Canada, England, Norway, Taiwan and Turkey.
