[nfbwatlk] Fwd: NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate from University of South Carolina Upstate

[David Andrews]

>Subject: NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary Doctorate 
>from University of South Carolina
>  Upstate
>Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 08:08:28 -0400
>Thread-Topic: NFB President Marc Maurer to Receive Honorary 
>Doctorate from University of South
>  Carolina Upstate
>thread-index: AcrrgnFgnLDRLIGFTEqcCXXFt29iRQ==
>From: "Freeh, Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org>
>To: "Freeh, Jessica" <JFreeh at nfb.org>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = 
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
>
>
>
>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 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = 
>"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />University of South 
>Carolina Upstate
>
>
>
>Baltimore, Maryland (May 3, 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 
>South Carolina Upstate at the 2010 commencement ceremony on May 4, 2010.
>
>
>
>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."
>
>
>
>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 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.