Paul L. Taylor, III quite literally changed the life experiences of deaf and hard of hearing people. Paul saw an opportunity to combine Western Union teletypewriters with modems to create the first telecommunications devices for the deaf, known as TDDs or TTYs. But he didn't stop there. He then helped to create a network of these devices, as well as using them to launch local telephone wake-up services for the deaf and the nation's first telephone relay system for the deaf, which he expanded to a statewide system. RIT was fortunate to welcome Paul as chair of the engineering support team at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in 1975. He remained on our faculty for 30 years, continuing to innovate and advocate in telecommunications for the deaf.