Zaccheus J. Ahonle

Dr. Zaccheus J. Ahonle serves as Program Coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at Mississippi State University (MSU) and Principal Investigator of a $9.9 million Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to advance workforce reintegration for Mississippians with disabilities. The grant led to the establishment of the Career Horizons Center, which was approved by the Mississippi IHL Board and scheduled to launch in July 2025. The Center will be housed within the Mississippi Institute on Disabilities in the College of Education and in coordination with the Department of Counseling, Higher Education Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations. Dr. Ahonle leads initiatives focused on disability employment, community reintegration, and health equity, aimed at improving access for individuals across diverse populations, including individuals with TBI and long-term health conditions, Veterans, and rural populations. Dr. Ahonle also holds an affiliate faculty position at MSU's Social Science Research Center and is a Research Associate (WOC) with the Veterans Rural Health Resource Center - Gainesville.

Dr. Ahonle has secured over $10.8 million in total competitive research funding to support research, innovation, and service initiatives in workforce reintegration, vocational rehabilitation, Long COVID Syndrome, and telehealth. His scholarship bridges research and practice to solve complex challenges in rehabilitation. Regionally, Dr. Ahonle serves on the Rehabilitation Association of Mississippi Board. Nationally, he has served as a contributor to CRCC's ethics revision, and currently serves in key leadership roles across the field, including Secretary of the Behavioral Health Networking Group of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM), Co-Chair of one of ACRM's Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group (BI-ISIG) taskforces and, Board Member of the Association for Rehabilitation, Research, Policy and Education (ARRPE), shaping policy and advancing the rehabilitation profession.