[Nfbv-announce] NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate from University of Notre Dame

[Freeh, Jessica]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Director of Public Relations

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org



NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate
from University of Notre Dame



Baltimore, Maryland (May 11, 2010): 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 from the University of 
Notre Dame at the 2010 commencement ceremony on May 16, 2010.  Maurer 
is a 1974 graduate of the University of Notre Dame.



Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, 
said: "I am pleased and privileged to receive an honorary degree from 
my alma mater.  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."



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.

Maurer has been president of the National Federation of the Blind 
since 1986.  In that capacity, he has 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 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.



For more information about the National Federation of the Blind, 
please visit <http://www.nfb.org/>www.nfb.org.





###



About the National Federation of the Blind

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.