Phil Hatlen
Dr. Phil Hatlen was the Superintendent at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) in Austin. He served in this position for 17 years, developing collaborative partnerships among TSBVI, Stephen F. Austin State University, and Texas Tech University to support teacher education, and acting as a powerful influence on state and national education policy affecting students with visual impairments.
A prolific author of books, book chapters, and journal articles, he fathered the concept of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) in 1996, the ground-breaking idea that students with visual impairment require additional disability-specific strategies in order to access the general education curriculum. The ECC was widely adopted by educators and became the foundation of philosophical and advocacy efforts across the nation and the world.