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September 9, 2003

NTID'S Davila Receives APANSCE

From: NTID - Sept 9, 2003

Contact: Karen Hopkins
kah9323@rit.edu
585-475-6493 voice/TTY

NTID's Davila Receives APANSCE Award

ROCHESTER, NY, Sept. 8-Dr. Robert R. Davila, vice president for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID/RIT), has accepted the annual APANSCE Award from la Asociación de Padres de Niños Sordos de Cataluña (Association of Parents of Deaf Children from Catalonia). Catalonia, a region in northeastern Spain, includes Barcelona as its capital.

The APANSCE Award is given to an individual or institution that has worked to improve the education and lives of deaf children and their families in Catalonia. The association is dedicated to promoting bilingual education in Catalan Sign Language, spoken Catalan, and spoken Spanish, collaborating with associations of deaf people, and promoting technology to improve the lives of deaf people.

Davila, who has dedicated his 50-year career to disability advocacy and education of the deaf, was unanimously selected in recognition of his support and willingness to share the NTID model for educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students with APANSCE, which describes it as "one of the best educational models for deaf youths in the world."

Davila has earned recognition as a leader and innovative educator through years
of persistence and dedication, directing national programs and causing positive change for people with disabilities. The first deaf leader of NTID, his efforts have resulted in new educational policies, significant scholarship funds, as well as enhanced technology, research, and support programs. He has traveled and presented to governments and education leaders around the world, inspiring deaf and hearing people wherever he goes.

NTID is the first and largest technological college in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. NTID, one of eight colleges of RIT, offers educational programs and access and support services to its 1,100 students from around the world who study, live, and socialize with 14,000 hearing students on RIT's Rochester, N.Y., campus. Web Address: www.rit.edu/NTID

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