National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Deafness/Education/International

James J. DeCaro

Director, PEN-International
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology

James J. DeCaro is a past dean for the college, a post he held for 14 academic years, as well as a former Interim President of NTID. He is currently director of the Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International), a multilateral collaborative network of colleges and universities around the world that educate students who are deaf.

DeCaro is an Honorary Professor at Tinajin University of Technology (China) and holds an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Russia. In 2003, he received the HaiHe Award of Honour for outstanding service to the better the circumstances of the people of Tianjin, China.

DeCaro holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in educational technology. He has worked at the university level in the field of deafness since 1971.

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)

Cochlear Implants

Catherine Clark

Cochlear Implant Program Coordinator  
Assistant Professor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology

Catherine Clark is NTID's Cochlear Implant expert, working with NTID's 100 students who have cochlear implants, a technology that changes and improves regularly. Catherine has presented and published in the areas of speech perception, speechreading, communication technologies and NTID's Cochlear Implant Program. Her bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences is from Bradley University and she earned a master's degree in Audiology at the University of Louisville. She also received cochlear implant training at the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles, California.

More info on Ms. Clark

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)

Sign Language Interpreting/American Sign Language

Linda Siple

Professor, ASL and Interpreting Education  
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology

Widely published in the areas of interpreting and deaf culture, Linda Siple has been a sign language interpreter for more than 30 years, and has taught interpreting for 25 years. Presently, she is engaged in research addressing the communication challenges that face deaf students in college classrooms, and wants to find ways to improve the classroom communication dynamics for deaf students and interpreters.

Siple completed her MS in Curriculum Development at Rochester Institute of Technology, and earned her Ph.D. at the State University of New York in Buffalo.

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)

Research, Child Development, Sign Language

Marc Marschark

Professor  
Department of Research
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology

The founder and editor of the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Marschark has also published more than 100 articles and chapters, and written and edited eleven books about learning, education, and deaf children's development. Marschark is leading NTID in innovative research efforts concerning sign language interpreting in educational settings, and has recently received over $1.75 million in federal funding for his research.

More info on M. Marschark

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)

Sign Language/Interpreting

NTID established the world's first ASL-English interpreter education program in 1969. Today, NTID also has the leading interpreting services program at both the associate and bachelor's level, and employs more than 100 interpreters who support the 1,100 deaf and hard-of-hearing students on the RIT/NTID campus in and out of the classroom.

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)

Employment

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has heightened awareness about integrating deaf and hard-of-hearing people into the workplace. NTID's Employment Specialists work with employers to make that integration easy. Many employers find NTID students to be an untapped resource of skilled workers in technical and professional fields. To talk with employers or their workers who are deaf or hard of hearing, contact: Greg Livadas, (585) 475-6217 (V/TTY).

Technology/Deafness

While TTY's are still in use today, pagers and a plethora of hi-tech gadgets are increasing in use by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. From Video Relay services, webcams, videophones and wireless pagers, deaf and hard-of-hearing people now communicate quite differently than in the recent past. NTID has a host of professionals that can speak to the latest in how technology assists deaf and hard of hearing people in the classroom, on the job or at home.

Contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)