April 8, 2010
Ladner to present Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture
Richard Ladner will present the 2010 Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Thursday, April 22, in 102 Johnson. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6:30 p.m.
Ladner is a Boeing professor in the UW Department of Computer Science and Engineering, as well as an adjunct professor in electrical engineering and linguistics. His lecture, Designing and Building Technology to Empower People, will address software and hardware solutions that make computers and other aspects of life more accessible to persons with disabilities. A sign language interpreter will be at the event and programs printed in Braille will also be available.
Named in honor of the UW’s first Vice President for the Office of Minority Affairs (1970), the annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of distinguished faculty by spotlighting nationally recognized research focusing on diversity and social justice.
Ladner, whose parents were both deaf, earned his bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College of California in 1965 and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of California Berkeley, in 1971. Shortly thereafter he joined the faculty at UW. Following many years of research in theoretical computer science, he turned his attention to accessibility technology research, especially technology for deaf, deaf-blind, hard-of-hearing, and blind people.
Among his many accomplishments, Ladner organized the Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing from 2007 to 2009, and started the Vertical Mentoring Workshop for the Blind in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in 2006. He also led the effort to establish an American Sign Language program at UW that began in the fall of 2007. Ladner is the recipient of the 2004 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, the 2008 Computing Research Association’s A. Nico Habermann Award, the 2008 Purpose Prize and the 2009 UW Outstanding Service Award.
To register, please contact cpromad@uw.edu or call 206-685-3422 by April 15.
For more information, visit here.
