About Us

What We Do

The McBurney Disability Resource Center is UW-Madison’s resource for ensuring equal access to education for all of our students through academic and classroom accommodations. We work with students and instructors to provide and support disability-related student accommodations.

The McBurney Center serves over 5400 students annually, and our work extends across UW-Madison and the campus community. We collaborate with students, faculty, departments, and staff across campus to move the entire community forward in access.

Who We Serve

Students Requesting Accommodations

We work with UW-Madison students with physical, learning, hearing, vision, psychological, health, and other disabilities substantially affecting a major life activity, like walking, communicating, learning, seeing, breathing, or reading. We work with many students who also have non-apparent disabilities like depression, anxiety, autism, learning disabilities, AD/HD, and health conditions such as Crohn’s disease or fibromyalgia.

Instructors Providing Accommodations

We assist faculty, departments, and instructional staff by verifying students’ disabilities and identifying reasonable academic accommodations; clarifying student and instructor roles and responsibilities; providing guidance to instructors on how to best ensure students maintain equal access; and providing information and training on accessibility and accommodations.

Individuals and Departments Requesting Sign Language Interpreting and Live Captioning (CART)

We coordinate sign language interpreting and live captioning requests for disability-related accommodations and for public access, including students, faculty, departments, and events across the campus community.

In Memory of Mike McBurney

The McBurney Center is named and founded in memory of Floyd “Mike” McBurney. Born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1938, McBurney sustained a cervical spinal cord injury in a diving accident at Lake Mendota at the age of 16. The incident resulted in him being quadriplegic, almost completely paralyzed from the neck down aside from his shoulders, and using a power wheelchair for mobility.

Mike faced an uncertain future in a time with many physical and social barriers for people with severe physical disabilities. To complete his education at Madison West High School, he arranged to do his schooling from a hospital bed while family members helped him with turning the pages of his books while he studied.

McBurney continued his studies at UW-Madison, completing his coursework through a combination of in-person classes and correspondence study using a specialized device on his lower arm that enabled him to type. Other times, he used a pencil strapped to his finger to write. Mike eventually graduated in the top 5% of his class in 1960 with a sociology degree, and he went on to graduate third in his class in 1963 from the UW School of Law.

While an undergrad at UW, Mike was introduced to James Graaskamp. Graaskamp was a faculty member in the School of Business and a fellow wheelchair user who became a lifelong friend to Mike. In 1963, they successfully lobbied for state legislation to require public buildings to be accessible to everyone in the state of Wisconsin.

After graduation, McBurney practiced law with his father while engaging in broader public service. He wrote articles, gave speeches, served as secretary of the Dane County Bar Association, and even hosted a television show called, “The Topic for the Day.” In 1966, he was elected as the Dane County District Attorney, before his promising career was tragically cut short by his passing in 1967 at age 29. He was remembered warmly, especially for his wit and sense of humor.

After Mike’s passing, Professor James Graaskamp approached the McBurney family with the idea to use the contributions made in Mike’s memory to start a formal disability services office. Working with Dean of Students Paul Ginsberg and Assistant Dean Blair Mathews, the McBurney Center was founded in 1977, one of the first of its kind in the nation.

McBurney and Graaskamp were committed to improving access for students with disabilities decades before federal legislation required campus communities to do so. Together, they advocated for comprehensive campus accessibility, understanding that true educational access meant participating fully in all aspects of university, both academic and social. The McBurney Center now carries forward the work that was pioneered by these two men, ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access to their education.

McBurney Center staff is here to support and lead the campus community forward in access for students with disabilities.

• Access Consultants: If you have a question about a particular student, please contact the corresponding Access Consultant listed at the bottom of their Student Accommodation Letter.
• Accommodation Coordinators
• Adaptive Technology Services
• Administrative Services
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program
• Disability Cultural Center