Whether James Weisman, the senior vice president and general counsel of the United Spinal Association, is working on Capitol Hill or visiting New York City, he’s surely advocating for people with disabilities.

And he’s probably expecting to come across Jimmy Curran.

Curran, a graduating honors student in the Fox School of Business, is a consummate networker. So when Weisman was invited to the White House to attend President Barack Obama’s 20th anniversary celebration of the Americans With Disabilities Act, he wasn’t surprised that Curran was on the guest list. Or that Curran shook hands with the president.

“I just laughed,” Weisman said of the encounter. “I said, ‘You are just everywhere.’”

The same is true for Curran’s time at Temple. Curran, who has type 2 spinal muscular atrophy, is graduating with a degree in finance and minors in economics and Spanish. He interned with CIT Group in New York City and spent last summer in Washington, D.C., as a congressional intern with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

While there, Curran worked closely with Legislative Director Kimberly Betz — and at times directly with Rodgers — to analyze policy, including the financial reform bill’s potential impact on Washington state.

As important as his “consistently outstanding” work, Rodgers said Curran “brought a positive energy and enthusiasm to the office that made him well-liked and now missed by his peers.”

The second-youngest of four children, Curran, 22, graduated from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in Montgomery County and was attracted to Temple because of its urban location, diverse study body, and the intimacy of the university and business honors programs.

John Bennett, director of the university’s Department of Disability Resources and Services, describes Curran as a calculated planner who doesn’t shy away from challenges and who can easily work a room. Once, when Bennett and a university photographer were photographing Curran in Alter Hall, Bennett noticed that Curran kept stealing glances at Fox’s elliptical stock ticker.

“He had a minute to spare, but he was using that minute,” Bennett said.

Friends say Curran lives by the three Fs of family, friends and finance. He credits his parents for their constant support and examples of overcoming adversity. His father, Tom, dropped out of high school to start a successful demolition business and his mother, Patricia, immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia at a young age. She is a nurse at Lankenau Medical Center.

Curran said his social network — both his close friends and acquaintances — made his time at Temple so enjoyable.

“I love meeting people. When people see someone with a disability, they might have second thoughts. ‘How do I approach them? Will they respond to me the way I would want them to?’” Curran said. “I take great pride in being someone who will put themselves out there for others to get to know me, and then they can judge me based on who I am.”

And Curran’s identity as a finance major and as the “cool guy who does all these amazing things who is so laid back and gracious” far outweighs his disability, Bennett said.

“You just have to appreciate Jimmy Curran for the guy he is, which is an accomplished student who, with no doubt, will go on to greatness,” he said.

During the July 26, 2010, ceremony where Curran met Obama, the president signed an executive order for the government to hire 100,000 employees with disabilities by 2015. Curran is applying for some of those jobs, as well as to private firms in finance. No matter where opportunity takes him, Curran said he hopes to “help bridge the gap between the private sector and people with disabilities.”

“I think there’s a major delay in the way the private sector is adopting the notion to hire people with disabilities the way the government is,” he said.

Curran already serves as vice chair on the Student Advisory Council of the U.S. Business Leadership Network, a national disability organization that represents more than 5,000 employers.

“But you won’t hear him shouting and roaring that he’s on this board,” Bennett said. “That’s Jimmy Curran.”