NTID Names Distinguished Alumnus

Susan Wolf-Downes, executive director of Northeast Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Inc. (NDHHS), a state agency in Concord, N.H., that provides communication access and referral services, health advocacy, adult education programs, and family services, has been named 2003 Distinguished Alumna for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Originally from Rydal, Pa., Wolf-Downes attended St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, N.Y. She received her NTID associate degree in Business Technologies in 1971 and a bachelor’s degree in Management from Lesley University in 2001.

From 1984 to 1991, Wolf-Downes worked as a specialist at the Center for Living and Working in Worcester. She then became outreach manager of Massachusetts Relay Services and four years later joined NYNEX (now Verizon) Center for Customers with Disabilities.

“NTID is one of the seeds of my success today,” Wolf-Downes said. “It continues to provide rich opportunities for thousands of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing.”

The first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, NTID, one of eight colleges of RIT, offers educational programs and access and support services to 1,100 students from around the world who study, live, and socialize with 14,400 hearing students on the RIT campus.

Web address: www.rit.edu/NTID.

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