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

[Mike Freeman]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>
> Date: December 1, 2013 at 13:44:17 EST
> To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer
> Reply-To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> 
> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Nfbv-announce mailing list
>> Nfbv-announce at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org
> 
> 
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