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National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Renamed for Special Olympics Founder
Washington, DC, 3 March 2008 Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver was honored today among family, friends and fellow advocates as the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development was officially renamed the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This great honor was first bestowed when the 110th Congress of the United States passed Senate bill S. 2484 on 13 December 2007.
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“It is an honor for our founder to be recognized by the United States Congress for her tremendous humanitarian work which has impacted millions around the world,” said Timothy Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics. “The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has been doing tremendous work for more than 45 years to ensure the children of our society receive the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.”
S. 2484 states that “the vision, drive, and tenacity of one woman, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was instrumental in proposing, passing, and enacting legislation to establish the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development on October 17, 1962. It is befitting and appropriate to recognize the substantial achievements of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a tireless advocate for children with special needs, whose foresight in creating the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development gave life to the words of President Kennedy, who wished to 'encourage imaginative research into the complex processes of human development from conception to old age.'”
As Executive Vice President of the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation and Honorary Chairperson of Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver has been a leader in the worldwide struggle to improve and enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities for more than four decades. Under Shriver's leadership, Special Olympics has been steadfast in improving the health of Special Olympics athletes through Healthy Athletes®, a global program proving free health screenings, provision of preventative and treatment services and educational information for more than 10 years. Recognized throughout the world for her efforts on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities, Shriver has received many honors and awards, including: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Legion of Honor, the Priz de la Couronne Francaise, the Mary Lasker Award, the Philip Murray-William Green Award (presented to Eunice and Sargent Shriver by the AFL-CIO), the AAMD Humanitarian Award, the NRPAS National Volunteer Service Award, the Laetare Medal of the University of Notre Dame, the Order of the Smile of Polish Children, the Laureus Sports Award, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Theodore Roosevelt Award, and the International Olympic Committee Award.
Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Eunice Mary Kennedy received a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Shriver is married to Sargent Shriver. The Shriver's have five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Owings Shriver Schwarzenegger, Timothy Perry Shriver, Mark Kennedy Shriver and Anthony Paul Kennedy Shriver.
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