Keynote - What Works: Best Practices and Practical Research Application
Workshop Description:
Dr. Hurwitz will review his past experiences as a consumer of interpreters and what interpreters can do to improve the experiences of Deaf users of ASL interpreters. He will also discuss the results and implications of his 1979 dissertation study on interpreters as well as his co-authored 2018 book about the history of interpreter education at NTID.
Presenter Bio:
Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz became the tenth president of Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010. Before coming to Gallaudet, Dr. Hurwitz was president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, N.Y. Dr. Hurwitz also served as dean of NTID from 1998 to 2009, and as vice president and dean of RIT from 2003 to 2009. Following a six-year stint as President of Gallaudet University, Dr. Hurwitz retired on December 31, 2015. He has been named as President Emeritus of Gallaudet University.
Dr. Hurwitz’s career at RIT/NTID began in 1970 when he was hired as an educational specialist in RIT’s College of Engineering after working five years for McDonnell Douglas Corporation as an associate electronics engineer and senior numerical control programmer. Subsequent positions at RIT/NTID include support department chair for Engineering and omputer Science Programs, director for NTID Support Services, associate dean for Educational Support Services Programs, associate vice president for NTID Outreach and External Affairs, and associate dean for Student Affairs, and project director for the Northeast Technical Assistance Center, one of the four federally funded regional centers within the PEPNet (Postsecondary Education Programs Network). He was promoted to the rank of a full professor at NTID in 1987, and was named as President and Dean Emeritus of NTID upon his retirement from RIT in December 2009 when he was appointed as President of Gallaudet University.
During the course of his career, Dr. Hurwitz has been involved in a variety of professional and deafness-related organizations. He has served on the boards of several of these organizations. He is a past member of the board of directors of the National Captioning Institute. He is a past president of the National Association of the Deaf and the Empire State Association of the Deaf as well as a past president of the World Organization of Jewish Deaf. Presently, Dr. Hurwitz serves as Chair of the External Advisory Committee for the National Deaf Health Research at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Rochester School for the Deaf of which he is the past board president.
Dr. Hurwitz served as a member of the District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the District of Columbia Consortium of Universities and Colleges Board of Directors. He was also a member of the boards of the District of Columbia Board of Trade, the Federal City Council, and the Maryland-District of Columbia Compact on Student Engagement. Dr. Hurwitz also served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Northeast Athletic Conference (NCAA Division III) of which Gallaudet University is a member.
Dr. Hurwitz’s most recent honors include receiving the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District II Chief Executive Leadership Award for 2013 and the Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering Alumni Achievement Award for 2013. He is a recipient of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the California State University at Fresno, California, in 2013.
Dr. Hurwitz earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Washington University at St. Louis, Mo., a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from St. Louis (Mo.) University, and a doctor of education, curriculum and teaching, from the University of Rochester (N.Y.). He also participated in the Management and Leadership in Education program at Harvard University. Dr. Hurwitz continues to lecture extensively and has been widely published.