Date: Monday, November 9, 2026
Category: News

In Memory of John H. Leslie, Jr., PhD

July 28, 1938 – November 4, 2026

It is with great sadness that RESNA announces the passing of John H. Leslie, Jr., a founding member of RESNA and one of the original rehabilitation engineers in the United States.

As the Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) at the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation of Wichita, KS, John was a nationally recognized leader in researching and providing vocational rehabilitation engineering services to people with severe disabilities. He championed important policy initiatives through his relationships with Kansas Senators Bob Dole and Nancy Kasselbaum, ensuring the survival of what would later become NIDILRR (National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research) and funding for the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers.  It was John, who at a conference he organized, led the development of the first definition of “rehabilitation engineering,” which was included in the Rehabilitation Act Amendment of 1986.

In honor of his years of service and mentorship to many RESNA members, John was awarded the Samuel McFarland Memorial Mentorship Award in 2024 and was named a RESNA Fellow in 1990. In a letter supporting John’s nomination for the McFarland Mentorship Award, Jerry Weisman, past RESNA President and Fellow, wrote: “Personally, I consider John one of my most important mentors. He has led and taught me, by example, how to be the best rehabilitation engineer I can be.”

In his interview for the RESNA Hall of Fellows, John said: “I was motivated by a desire to improve the human condition through the application of fundamental industrial engineering principles to ensure persons with disabilities "got a piece of the action". My early engineering experience was in the defense industry. I felt a need to improve life, not destroy it.”

 He is survived by his daughter, Karen; son, Chris; daughter in law, Jill; his beloved grandchildren, Hogan, Olivia, Emily and Tate; and four great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 60 years, Sheba, and son, Brian.

Please see full obituary. Condolences may be sent to the family care of the Lakeview Funeral Home in Wichita, KS. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 23, followed on Saturday, November 14 by a rosary and funeral mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wichita.