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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Subject: NFB President Marc
Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate from University of South
Carolina<br>
Upstate<br>
Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 08:08:28 -0400<br>
Thread-Topic: NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate
from University of South<br>
Carolina Upstate<br>
thread-index: AcrrgnFgnLDRLIGFTEqcCXXFt29iRQ==<br>
From: "Freeh, Jessica" <JFreeh@nfb.org><br>
To: "Freeh, Jessica" <JFreeh@nfb.org><br><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Helvetica" size=4><b>FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><br>
</b></font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><b> <br>
</b></font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica"><b>CONTACT:<br>
</b></font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">Chris Danielsen<br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">Director of Public
Relations<br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">National Federation of the
Blind<br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">(410) 659-9314, extension
2330<br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">(410) 262-1281 (Cell)<br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">
<a href="mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org">cdanielsen@nfb.org</a><br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> <br>
</font><font face="Garamond"><br>
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NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate<br>
from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />University of
South Carolina Upstate<br>
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<b>Baltimore, Maryland (May 3, 2010): </b>The National Federation of the
Blind (NFB), the largest organization of blind people in the United
States, today announced that its president, Dr. Marc Maurer, will receive
an honorary doctor of laws
degree</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica"> from the University of
South Carolina Upstate at the </font><font face="Garamond">2010
commencement ceremony on May 4, 2010. <br><br>
<br><br>
Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said:
“I am pleased and privileged to receive an honorary degree from the
University of South Carolina Upstate. As president of the largest
organization of blind people in the United States, I have been fortunate
to play a role in many exciting and life-changing developments for blind
people in America. While we have made much progress, there is still
more to be done. Only 10 percent of blind children are learning
Braille in this country, and this directly contributes to a 70 percent
unemployment rate among blind people in the United States. I humbly
accept this honor on behalf of blind Americans and pledge to work harder
than ever to ensure that the blind are not left behind in today’s
society.”<br><br>
<br><br>
Maurer earned his law degree from Indiana University in 1977 and began
focusing on representing blind individuals in the courts. A member
of the bar in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, Maryland, and the Bar of the Supreme
Court, Maurer is one of the most experienced lawyers in the field of
civil rights and discrimination against the blind. <br><br>
Maurer has been president of the National Federation of the Blind since
1986. In that capacity, he joined President George W. Bush in the
Oval Office in 2001 to celebrate the organization’s Everest Expedition,
and was present for Bush’s signing into law the Help America Vote Act of
2002. He has promoted new technology for the blind, including the
knfbReader Mobile (a revolutionary cell phone application that scans and
reads aloud most printed material) and the prototype vehicle for the
Blind Driver Challenge. He has overseen the visionary expansion of
the NFB Jernigan Institute, the first training and research institute for
the blind, led by the blind. He has also previously served as
president of the North America/Caribbean Region of the World Blind
Union. In November 2009, Dr. Maurer was awarded the
</font><font face="Helvetica, Helvetica">Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C.,
Award for outstanding contributions in the field of public service from
the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association.<br>
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<br><br>
For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, please
visit <a href="http://www.nfb.org/">www.nfb.org</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
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<b>About the National Federation of the Blind<br>
</b><br>
With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is
the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people
in the United States. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through
advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging
independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the
blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In
January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan
Institute, the first research and training center in the United States
for the blind led by the blind. <br>
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