Ben Soukup Announces
22 12 2007All..
Ben Soukup who is Chair of Board of Trustees at Gallaudet University (he is CEO of CSD as well) recently made this announcement - see below.
eyes open & thumbs up,
Ed
Board of Trustees
COLLEGE HALL
800 FLORIDA AVE. NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20002-3695
December 21, 2007
Dear Campus Community:
Although I recognize that finals are done and many people have left campus to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends, I did want to share some important news.
It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Board of Trustees has selected four very deserving individuals to receive honors on May 16 at Gallaudet’s 139th Commencement exercises.
Mr. Ed Bosson, ’66, widely known as the “Father of Video Relay Service,” and Mr. Charles Williams, a community activist and former member of the Board of Trustees, will be awarded honorary doctorate degrees. Drs. Virginia Gutman, who will retire this spring, and John Van Cleve, who retired this fall, will be named professors emeriti.
Mr.Bosson began his quest to bring video communication to the deaf and hard of hearing community in the early 1990s when he persuaded the Texas Public Utility Commission to test a video conference product to see if it could be a viable form of communication for deaf and hard of hearing people. Over the following years, a number of successful VRS trials were held in Texas, and by 2000, Washington state and Texas were providing Internet-enabled VRS, and the Federal Communications Commission began allowing reimbursement for VRS calls. Bosson served as chair of the National Association for State Relay Administrators in 1994, 2002, and 2004. His numerous awards include the Laurent Clerc Award from Gallaudet, the Robert H. Weitbrecht Telecommunications Access Award from TDI, and the ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award.
Williams, who served for 13 years on the University’s Board of Trustees, is noted for his leadership, his community activism, and his career as an educator of deaf students. He has worked tirelessly for the rights of people with disabilities, and has been a staunch advocate for the rights of deaf people of color. Williams is one of the founding members of the National Black Deaf Advocates organization and has worked for Deaf Services of Cleveland for 19 years. Among the advocacy groups he has served on are: the National Association of Deaf Senior Services, where he was vice president; the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Mental Health Board Advisory Committee Regarding Deaf Persons; and the Greater Cleveland Lions Club. His many awards include the National Black Deaf Advocates Linwood Smith Humanitarian Award; the Cuyahoga Community College Black Caucus Award; and the Carrie Dixon Award, Project Dawn, from California State University, Northridge.
Dr. Gutman’s 30-year career at Gallaudet includes serving as chair of the Department of Psychology since 2001, director of the Counseling Center, special assistant to the dean of Student Affairs, director of residence life and acting director of the Counseling Center, director of clinical psychology training, and staff psychologist at the Counseling and Placement Center. Her largest and most significant impact on the University and on the lives of many deaf people comes from her development and stewardship of the clinical psychology doctoral program, which successfully went through the stringent accreditation process by the American Psychological Association. The program has created access for hundreds of deaf people and their families to high quality professional psychological services.
Dr. Van Cleve, whose career at Gallaudet also spanned 30 years, has gained acclaim as a pioneer and internationally recognized scholar in the field of deaf history. In 1991, he served on the steering committee of the First International Conference on Deaf History, and he has regularly presented his research nationally and internationally. He has edited and authored many books related to the deaf community, including the three-volume Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness, of which he was editor-in-chief. He also co-authored A Place of Their Own: Creating the Deaf Community in America, a book which has become a classic in the field of deaf history. He also served in several administrative positions at Gallaudet, including special assistant to the vice president for academic affairs, director of information and technology services (ITS), and executive director of ITS and marketing. His awards include Gallaudet’s Educator of the Year.
I hope you share my enthusiasm in the Board’s selection of these outstanding individuals. On behalf of all the trustees, I wish to extend my appreciation for the many nominations for honorary degree and professor emeritus awards that were submitted by the campus community.
I join the entire Board in wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season, and we look forward to seeing you during our February 14 and 15 meeting on campus.
Sincerely,
Ben Soukup
Chair
Loading ...
Well deserved! Congratulations Ed! What a great Christmas present.
Ed,
On behalf of Viable, everyone joins me congratulate you not only for honorary doctorate degree but also for important role as “Father of VRS”. We all are very proud of you being excellent leadership in communication access for Deaf and HH community. Thank you and congratulation!
John
FABOO honor, Ed!!! Very very very well deserved. Congrats!!
Congratulations, Ed. An Award well-earned!
BIG WAVING HANDS to my old schoolmate whom I think Eddie deserves to get recognization!!!! Go Redskins! (I know Eddie roots for Cowboys haha) And Go Hogs beat Tigers! SMILE
Congratulations, Ed! As a trailblazer and history-making figure equal to Robert Weitbrecht, you deserve this honor 1000 times over! Kudos! Start a hand wave, everybody!
Congratulations Ed! Wow — Honorary doctorate from Gally is VERY nice honor. Glad they recognize your contribution.
CONGRATULATIONS! I am so happy for you Ed, as the comment before me, this recognition is long overdue!
I’m humbled to bow before thee, Dr. Ed, in the Telecommunications world, you ROCK!
I am sure the ceremony will be wonderful, don’t forget to take pixs to post on this blog!
All the best, xoxo
Congratulations for your honorary receipent of 2008 Commencement. May your prosperous life endure to achieve. In fact, I enjoyed viewing your vlog and blog to share the update of telecommunications and other matters to our community. Thank you! Happy Holidays!
Nick
Congrats…this is an extraordinary honor.
Big Hand Waving from our family - VRS has transform deaf society into the future. More deaf people are reaching out to hearing people and We are truly using our language to communciate each other. Kudos and see you on your big days.
Ed,
Congrats! You deserved it! Keep in touch
gwlj
Ed,
I am thrilled to learn about this tremendous honor for you! Congratulations!
Danny
Congratulations Ed!
I’ve always known that you are the “Father of VRS”. I’m so glad you are being acknowledged as a pioneer to blend a beautiful visual language with technology to bring us ‘functionally-equivalent’ access to telecommunications! Your trail-blazing path has foraged a bridge to the 21st century! I look forward to what you’ll bring us in 2008!
Best wishes,
ERic Raff
Ed:
Flying hands to you! This is a well deserved honor for you- You have been very influential in the field of “Deaf Telephony” for as long as I have known you. Your advocacy for quality services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people will not go unrecognized!
I can remember the days when you advocated for Video Relay Services way back when the concept was a mere twinkle in other people’s eyes. Many people told you that this idea may not be feasible, yet you convinced the naysayers to at least set up a trial back in ‘95. This trial was indeed the precursor of things to come!
Thank you!
On behalf of all of us at Sign Language Specialists in Kansas City, we wish you sincere congratulations on this honor. We operate a VRS center for CSDVRS. Your contribution to the interpreting profession has provided unlimited potential for us to serve our Deaf community, both locally and through cyberspace. Thank you!
Lisa Bolding, President
Sign Language Specialists
Dad,
Great job! We are all very, very proud of you! Mark, Steffani, Rotan & Clary
Ed, your blog/vlog is a big plus to the relay community and consumers like me appreciate your impartial position on many controversial issues. I look forward to calling you DOCTOR Bosson. Congratulations!
All my Best,
Bob Daniels