Karen Rabren

Mildred Cheshire Fraley Distinguished Professor

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Academic Areas

Collaborative Teacher Special Education

Early Childhood/Elementary Special Education

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Short Bio

Karen Rabren, PhD, is a Mildred Chesire Fraley Distinguished Professor in the Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling at Auburn University.

Her career has centered on the transition of youth with disabilities as they assume young adult roles. Her research interests include the post-school outcomes for students with disabilities and the development, implementation, and evaluation of transition services and programs. She began her professional journey as a preschool teacher then turned her attention to special education becoming a teacher, state training coordinator, state program director, and professor.

As the director of the state’s 5-year transition systems change grant, she led a talented team at the Alabama State Department of Education as they helped public schools establish secondary transition programs. She continued her focus on transition as a faculty member at Auburn University. She served as the Auburn Transition Leadership Institute for over a decade and was a co-founder of Auburn’s EAGLES program for students with intellectual disabilities. She has supported her teaching, research, and outreach with over 10 million dollars in extramural funding. She has received awards for her research, outreach, and teaching. She has held state and national leadership roles and has a long history of serving on editorial boards related to transition such as the Journal of Career Development and Transition and Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. She coordinates the Education Specialist in Collaborative Teacher-Special Education and Transition Specialist Graduate Certificate programs.

Dr. Rabren is originally from Montgomery, Alabama. Throughout her youth she showed American Quarter Horses and continues to enjoy horseback riding today. She is married to Donnie Rabren and they have three children and three grandchildren. She likes to travel, whether that be on short expeditions within her home state, or national and international adventures. She enjoys baking cookies with her grandchildren and taking them “treasure hunting” at local thrift stores.

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Education

Ph.D. in Special Education, 1994, Auburn University

M.Ed. in Special Education, 1987, Auburn University

B.S. in Elementary Education, 1983, Auburn University Montgomery

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Professional Experience

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