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NTID Interim President

DeCaro to Become NTID’s Interim President

NTID News – October 19, 2009

Jim DeCaro, former dean and interim director of NTID has been named interim president on NTID effective Dec. 1.

James J. DeCaro, who served as dean of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf for 14 years, including two years as interim director and CEO, has been selected to serve as interim president of NTID and interim vice president and dean of RIT effective Dec. 1.

Rochester Institute of Technology President Bill Destler announced his selection today, a day after current NTID President Alan Hurwitz was picked to become president at Gallaudet University in Washington effective Jan. 1.

“I know that Jim will provide stable transition to new leadership during his tenure as interim president,” Destler said. “Jim has the institutional knowledge from the nearly 40 years he’s spent at the college and has devoted his career to the betterment of deaf and hard-of-hearing students around the world.”

In a message to the RIT community, Destler said: “It has been my distinct pleasure to work with Alan since assuming the presidency of RIT and I have nothing but the highest of respect for him as a colleague and friend. While I do not wish to see Alan leave his post as president of NTID, I know he will be a valuable asset to Gallaudet University. I wish Alan the very best as he takes on the responsibilities of stewarding NTID’s sister institution. I know that Alan will be as productive, creative and innovative in his new post as he has been during his tenure at RIT. The board of Gallaudet University has chosen very wisely.”

Since leaving the deanship, DeCaro, a senior research professor at NTID, has been awarded more than $12 million in grants and contracts.

He is director of NTID’s Postsecondary Education Network-International, a multinational collaborative network of colleges and universities serving deaf students. PEN-International is funded by grants from the Nippon Foundation of Japan.

DeCaro is also director of the NTID Center on Access Technology, a center that focuses on the application of innovative technologies to facilitate access to educational settings for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“I look forward to working with my colleagues at NTID to move with vigor to implement the NTID Strategic Vision 2020 as we seek a new president,” said DeCaro. “I know that Alan will be an amazing asset to Gallaudet University and I am equally confident that we will find a leader who will carry on the excellent work started by Alan.”

DeCaro holds bachelor and master degrees in civil engineering and a Ph.D. in instructional technology. He first came to the college as an engineering technology faculty member in 1971. He has been a Rotary International Scholar at University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England and a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Orebro University in Sweden.

He holds an honorary professorship at Tianjin University of Technology in China. He was also awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Russia. Last year, he received the 2008 Contribution to Society Award from Japan’s Foundation for Encouragement of Social Contribution for his service to humanity.

Destler said DeCaro has agreed to be interim president of NTID for one year and will then return to his responsibilities at PEN-International and the NTID Center on Access Technology.

Destler says a search committee will be formed to help conduct a national search for NTID’s next president.

Source: RIT – NTID News