Education
Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz
CEO and Dean, NTID
VP, Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Hurwitz leads the internationally known NTID, providing innovative curriculum and marketable skills to its 1200 students.
His 33-year history working in a variety of key roles within NTID makes him a leading expert in education of deaf and hard-of-hearing
people. He brought his experience as an electronics engineer and numerical control programmer from McDonnell Douglas to NTID in 1970,
where he began teaching math, electronics and computer science.
More info on Dr. Hurwitz
contact: Greg Livadas
(585) 475-6217 (V/TTY)
Deafness/Education/International
James J. DeCaro
Senior Research Professor
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
James J. DeCaro is immediate past dean for the college, a post he held for 14 academic years. 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)
Age-related Hearing Loss, Deafness, Post-secondary Education
Dr. D. Robert Frisina
Director, The International Center for Hearing and Speech Research
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Rochester Institute of Technology
An international author and lecturer, Frisina has been a pioneer in the field of deafness and hearing loss for more than 30 years. He first joined RIT in 1967 as vice president and organizing
director of NTID. A graduate of Westminster College, he earned a master's degree from Gallaudet University and a doctorate in audiology and psychology from Northwestern University. He now leads
the International Center for Hearing and Speech Research, which has been awarded its third, five-year, $6.3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to study age-related hearing loss (presbycusis).
More info on Dr. Frisina
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)