COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN DIVISION ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS PRESENTS 2010 AWARDS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NASHVILLE

DIVISION ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Pictured: CEC-DVI Distinguish Service Award winner Dr. David Ross

The Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Visual Impairments (DVI) is proud to present the Distinguished Service Award to Dr. David B. Ross at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention and Expo in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22, 2010.  Dr. Ross is a professor for the Program on Visual Impairments at Kutztown University.  He is also a Past President of DVI.

The Distinguished Service Award is presented to a DVI member who provides exemplary leadership and commitment to the field.  Dr. Ross received this prestigious award for his diligent work as an advocate to persons with blindness, deafblindness, and multiple disabilities.  His contributions to his profession have been broad-based and immeasurable.

Dr. Ross is a teacher, a leader, and an advocate.  He is considered one of the best professors in the field of blindness and has mentored many leaders.  He has been the catalyst for state of the art teacher training and research strategies for students.  Dr. Ross encourages students to obtain higher degrees within our profession and with consistency and vigor; he demonstrates leadership for his students within DVI.  He promotes collegiality and is a friend to others in a way that brings people into the DVI world.  His continuous smile, happiness, and care for others draw people into his arena as friends for life.

One former student shares, “when I think of Dr. Ross, a multitude of things come to mind: pillar in the field of Blindness and Visual Impairment, enthusiastic role model, caring and compassionate, future thinker and dedicated.”  He and these qualities led me to becoming an educator in the field of Blindness and Visual Impairment.  Another former student and now teacher within the field expresses the following sentiments – “As I sit in my classroom waiting for my students to return from music class, I can’t help but think of the many ways that Dr. Ross has impacted my career both personally and professionally.  He holds himself personally accountable for the success of each university student in the Vision Program.  This became evident to me personally when taking an introduction to Orientation and Mobility course with Dr. Ross.  Having low vision myself and growing up resisting vision services as a child, Dr. Ross helped bring me to the realization that I had important travel skills to learn personally before I could learn to teach a child with a visual impairment how to travel.”

“Dr. Ross is committed to fostering passion in the field of blindness with young adults who will become future leaders in the field.  Dr. Ross, with his caring, firm, and gentle way builds trust.  Building trust in students opens doors to learning.  His students know that he believes in them.”