[Nfbc-info] [Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer

[robert stigile]

 ---- Original Message ------
From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com
Subject: [Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr.  
Maurer
Date sent: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 12:44:17 -0600


From: "Fredric Schroeder" <fschroeder at sks.com
To: "NFBV Announce" <nfbv-announce at nfbnet.org
Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 11:12:29 -0500
Subject: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr.  Maurer

Friends:



Over the weekend, I participated in a meeting of the board of 
directors of
the National Federation of the Blind.  The meeting was held at 
our national
headquarters in Baltimore.



As you know, Dr.  Marc Maurer has been our national president 
since 1986.  He
has served as president longer than any of our previous 
presidents and has
guided us through a period of unprecedented growth and change.  
It was under
Dr.  Maurer's leadership that we established the Jernigan 
Institute and all
of the programs that have been so successful in demonstrating the 
truth of
our assertion that given proper opportunity and training, blind 
people can
live and work as others.



In particular we have developed many programs designed to provide 
blind
children and youth with the skills and confidence they need to 
compete fully
in their education and to develop their life ambitions.  We have 
conducted
the Youth Slam, Science Academy, and more recently the BELL 
programs.



In the area of technology under Dr.  Maurer's leadership we 
developed the
KNFB Reader Mobile allowing blind people to have immediate access 
to print
with nothing more than a cell phone and special software.  And 
then there was
the Blind Driver Challenge.  There is no question that lack of 
access to
reliable transportation remains a major barrier for blind people.  
Yet, the
Blind Driver Challenge showed that we could develop the 
technology to enable
a blind person to drive a car, not simply sit passively in a car 
that drives
itself.



These are the expressions of Dr.  Maurer's leadership.  Yet at 
the heart of
his leadership is his spirit and his belief in every blind 
person.  He has
inspired and encouraged us, faced the most difficult challenges 
with
resolution and strength, and he has kept us together, and never 
let us
waiver in our belief in our own right to live normal, productive 
lives.



On Saturday afternoon Dr.  Maurer told the board that it is his 
intention to
not seek reelection to the presidency next summer at our national
convention.  He feels the time is right to transition to the next 
president,
the next individual who can lead us for a quarter century or 
more.  Dr.
Maurer is in good health and believes that it is important that 
he step down
from the presidency while he is able to assist with the 
transition.  Dr.
Maurer told the board that he, Dr.  Maurer, plans to support Mr.  
Mark
Riccobono as the next president of the National Federation of the 
Blind.



Mr.  Riccobono presently serves as the Executive Director of the 
Jernigan
Institute.  He is an accomplished individual with the strength 
and wisdom to
assume the serious responsibility of leading our movement.  He 
has brought to
his work the imagination and competency we demand from our 
president.



We are truly fortunate that within the Federation we have 
individuals who
are able and willing to give all they have to furthering our move 
toward
true equality.  The demands of the NFB presidency are 
unimaginable.  We
require our leader to give all of his time, all of his 
imagination, and all
of his personal reserve of judgment to leading our organization.  
This is
what Dr.  Maurer has done for the past 27 and a half years, and 
it is what
Mark Riccobono will do for the time of his presidency.



The transition brings to an end one chapter in our history and 
what a
glorious chapter it has been.  We cannot face the loss of Dr.  
Maurer's
leadership without a sense of sadness; but the transition to a 
new president
is not just the absence of what we had before.  The transition 
heralds a new
chapter in our history and with it, new opportunities-the chance 
to take all
that has come before and build something bigger and more powerful 
than we
have ever known.



Please join me in thanking Dr.  Maurer for his leadership, his 
friendship and
his faithful devotion to our cause; and please join me in wishing 
Mark
Riccobono the very best as he seeks to take the foundation that 
is all that
has come before and build upon it the next great chapter in our 
history.

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