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Laurie Powers is a nationally renowned expert on disabilities and self-determination. She comes to PSU from Oregon Health & Science University where she was an associate professor of pediatrics, psychiatry, and public health and co-director of OHSU's Center on Self-Determination.

Powers joins to Portland State as a part of the University's focus on making investments in the recruitment of nationally recognized faculty members in areas critical not only to PSU's mission, but to the region.

Currently, Powers directs the National Center for Self-Determination and 21st Century Leadership, which develops and shares approaches that promote the self-determination of people with disabilities or with ongoing health conditions. Since 1995 Powers has been principal investigator or co-investigator on 42 externally funded projects supported by $28.7 million in federal, state, and private foundation dollars.

Since arriving at PSU, Powers and her colleagues have secured an additional $720,000 in funding to launch a national youth information center for young people with disabilities, to examine the benefits of peer run mental health services in Oregon, and to provide technical assistance to make voting more accessible to citizens with cognitive disabilities.