David Hernández-Saca, Ph.D. is a Disability Studies in Education (DSE) Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Northern Iowa since 2016. He received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Critical Special Education Leadership for School-Wide-Equity and Access and a cognate in emotion in 2016. He teaches special education law, assistive technology, advocacy and creating and sustaining positive inclusive learning environments to pre-service special and general education teachers. He investigates (1) the emotional impact of LD labeling on conceptions of self, (2) the role of emotion and affect in teacher learning about social justice issues and (3) examining violence within the academy against historically marginalized scholars for their well-being and healing. He belongs to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and is the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award recipient from the DSE Special Interest Group at AERA.