Cathie Axe MED

Executive Director, Student Disability Services

Cathie Axe is the Executive Director of Johns Hopkins’ Student Disability Services (SDS) university-wide. Her role was created in 2019 to bring disability services across the schools and campuses into a consistent, effective, and inclusive system. From developing a collective mission to centralizing services to increasing accessibility and reducing ableism, her work involves collaborations and partnerships with students, faculty, staff ,and community members. She currently oversees the four student disability services hubs including the SDS Homewood Hub (Shaffer Hall 101), the SDS DC/Professional Hub (The Bloomberg Center in DC, 545), the SDS E. Baltimore hub (located within the schools), and the SDS University-wide Hub that includes the Assistive Technology Center (Garland 135).

With over 34 years of higher education experience, almost 30 of those years managing disability services at a variety of institutions, Cathie has had the opportunity to engage in the evolution of perspectives around disability. She earned her Master of Education degree in Counseling and Development at George Mason University where she also got her start in disability services. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in Business Economics where she worked in her most recent past role as Associate Dean and Director of Accessibility Services. Over her sixteen years at Brown, she developed disability services from a one-person office to a robust and progressive team of staff, campus partners and engaged students. Her work in disability services has spanned a variety of institutions including Northern Virginia Community College and American University where served as an LD/ADHD specialist.