[Nfbf-l] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer

[Sherrill O'Brien]

Hello all,

Apparently this very surprising announcement from Fred Schroeder has been
circulating since Sunday, but I didn't receive it directly, Friends of mine
from South Carolina got the news, and I thought I should pass this along to
my Florida friends and colleagues, as it ought to be shared. Perhaps lots of
you already know about this, but our lists were quiet on the subject, so I
thought I'd pass the news along. You'll all recognize the name here, Mark
Riccobono, since he spoke so passionately at this past year's state
convention banquet.
Sherrill


>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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