Biography

JoAnn Schmidt Kramer was born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1940 to Harry and Verona Schmidt. After graduating from Waterloo East High School in 1958, she enrolled at the University of Iowa and studied in the Department of Physical Education for Women, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1962. She married Jerry Kramer, a high school teacher. After earning a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa, she taught in the Waterloo school district as a physical education instructor and coach for thirteen years. In 1975, Kramer returned to the University of Northern Iowa to become certified as a teacher consultant in special education. She retired from teaching in 1999.

In 1980, after her daughter was in an accident resulting in a brain injury, JoAnn Kramer worked with other parents to found BRAIN of Iowa, later renamed the Brain Injury Alliance, to help support and advocate for individuals with brain trauma. In 1987, she was appointed to the Iowa Governor’s Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities, as well as the State Task Force on Head Injury in 1988, the State of Iowa Governor’s Advisory Council on head Injury in 1989, and the Advisory Council for the Midwest Regional Head Injury Center for Rehabilitation and Prevention in 1991.

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