Brooke Ellison is the first quadriplegic to graduate from Harvard University. In 2000, she was selected by her fellow students to speak at the University's commencement ceremonies.

Ellison was struck by a car in 1990 at age 11, while crossing a street on her first day of junior high school, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down and ventilator-dependent. Brooke and her mother, Jean Ellison, live with their family in Stony Brook, New York.

Ellison graduated from Ward Melville High School in 1996 with high honors, and was accepted by Harvard. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a bachelor of science in cognitive neuroscience in 2000, and a masters degree in public policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2004. Ellison is currently a doctoral candidate in political psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Ellison's struggles are depicted in The Brooke Ellison Story.

Ms. Ellison has announced her intentions to run for the New York State Senate in the fall 2006 election.

References

Ellison, Brooke and Jean Ellison Miracles Happen: One Mother, One Daughter, One Journey (Hyperion Press, New York 2002). ISBN 0786867701

External links

• Brooke Ellison Web Page