Gallaudet's Tenth President: Transition Process

Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz



Dr. Hurwitz joins an Academic Affairs Management Team meeting, also on November 18.



Dr. Alan Hurwitz sits in on the final Graduate Student Association Town Hall meeting of the year on November 18.



First Lady-Designate Vicki Hurwitz joined her husband as they visited campus this week. Mrs. Hurwitz enjoyed a special historical tour of campus on November 16, complete with legends, ghost hauntings, and other Gallaudet lore. As part of the tour, she stopped by to explore the Peikoff Alumni House with the help of Director of Alumni Relations and Executive Director of GUAA Sam Sonnenstrahl, shown here. She also had an introduction to the Gallaudet Archives with Director of Deaf Library Collections and Archives Ulf Hedberg and Archives Preservation Specialist Mike Olson. (Photo: Brittany Castle)

Communiqués from Dr. Hurwitz

Email to the Gallaudet University campus, November 19, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

After four full (what an understatement!) days at Gallaudet University, let me ask you all to envision me signing WOW!

My thanks to all who have made our stay—Vicki's and mine—such a warm one. Both of us have had back-to-back meetings in days filled every moment with time spent in the campus-wide gracious welcome you've given us. The saying "hit the ground running" is insufficient to describe my week, for you're sending me away at jet speeds, propelled to circle back, to pick up where we all leave off.

As always, time with students is a highlight; I was able to spend an evening with student leaders, and interact more casually with other students throughout my stay. Students, you will never be a respite from my other duties. You are the principal reason why, many years ago, I changed from a technical engineering career for a very large aircraft company, to a career in education, to the kind of work that's widely described by so many deaf and hard-of-hearing students as "giving back."

My time with those who will report direct to me, with various management teams, and with others such as the presidential transition team have had the intended effect, for I will leave, and will return, with a much fuller picture of our job ahead.

Thank you for your time with me, for the thoughtful way in which you have communicated accomplishments and concerns with me, and for thoughts on how we move the LRSP ahead for the University.

On a final note, we had a grand tour of House One; what an elegant way to add to the feeling of being at home that so many of you are providing. We look forward to sharing our home, and our collective futures, with you.

Warmly,
Alan

Email to the Gallaudet University campus, November 18, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

I am delighted to announce that Don Beil will be joining Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010 as Chief of Staff. In that position he will provide me with high-level administrative support and advice, serve as a member of the President's Management Team, and work with many others to ensure implementation of University objectives, to facilitate communication, to oversee my office operations, and to assume other duties as designated.

Don joins us after 35 years at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where he has served for the last five years as my Executive Assistant. He has extensive knowledge of the operation of a university for he was a member of the NTID Administrative Team and had direct responsibilities for a broad range of activities including for example all government relations with Congress and the Department of Education; he and I made over 50 trips together in the last five years to Washington, DC on which we conducted many hundreds of meetings with Washington officials. He also managed our National Advisory Group and Institutional Research, and was the NTID liaison with the RIT human resources and legal departments.

At NTID Don was a tenured full professor in our academic computing department, and received multiple recognitions (RIT outstanding teacher award, NTID Deaf Professional Group award, Rochester Black Deaf Advocates award). He is familiar with academic leadership as he was department chair for almost four years and interim division director for two years. He has a baccalaureate degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis (he and I were there at the same time, but did not know each other), and a master’s degree from Washington State University in computer science.

He is the author of 10 books on computing—both textbooks and trade books—and wrote the user documentation for over 15 digital cameras  and film scanners for Eastman Kodak Company. Before joining NTID, Don was with the Peace Corps for five years, including two years in the Somali Republic, East Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching high school mathematics, and he taught computer science at the Pennsylvania State University for four years.

Please join me in welcoming Don to Gallaudet University.

Warmly,
Alan

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Email to the Gallaudet University campus, November 17, 2009

Dear Colleagues:

In my last communiqué I mentioned that I have been working on transition topics with President Davila. In addition to the counsel he has provided I have also been active on many other learning fronts.

I’ve had discussions with many, many individuals over the last weeks. In almost all of those conversations the person with whom I was speaking began a sentence with the statement: “What Gallaudet needs …” I take these statements as reflective of active minds thinking about the best interests of our future. I have attentively received those comments and suggestions as I too consider the future of Gallaudet.

Additionally, I am on campus this week, in back-to-back meetings with many individuals and groups. It’s the best of opportunities for me to learn about the University; I appreciate the time so many of you are spending with me.

I have been reading everything that’s come my way about the University; while it is not a substitute for being on the ground, these readings provide me with a broad perspective on Gallaudet University.

And how fortunate I am that we have our Long Range Strategic Plan (LRSP). Those plans provide marching orders for all of us, because the University has united behind a set of shared expectations for the coming years. We will continue with the implementation of the LRSP now in place, we will do so in consultation with the community, and we will have opportunities for involvement for all. My thanks to all of you, and particularly to those who served the LRSP by participating directly in the planning process. Now it’s up to all of us to convert a document into action.

There’s work ahead; for me it’s the excitement of accepting the challenge of working together with each of you in the coming years. I look forward to it – and hope you’re marshalling your energies to move the University to achieve the goals set for ourselves.

Warmly,
Alan

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Email to the Gallaudet University campus, November 16, 2009

It’s my honor to be coming to Gallaudet University, and I will be forever grateful to all of you for your involvement in the Presidential search process that led to my selection. A special thanks to the Board of Trustees and all members of the search committee.

Since the appointment was announced, over a thousand individuals have sent me their best wishes. With each one, I have been reminded that their good will toward me is really an expression of good will toward Gallaudet University. Each and every email, personal contact, or phone call has been about my appointment, meaning they are about you and also meaning what was ‘your’ University has now become ‘our’ University.

Particularly significant have been the expressions I’ve received from so many individuals at Gallaudet University. I particularly cherish those good wishes; for me they are statements of support, expressions of enthusiasm, and I hope declarations of a desire to join me as we all work together to advance the University.

All three of the other candidates were generous in their communications with me which I greatly appreciate; I know that over the coming years they will continue their interest in and contributions to Gallaudet University.

Finally, my personal thanks and recognition for my long-time friend Robert Davila and his wife Donna; both have been very gracious to Vicki and me. Bob has been and continues to be a personal inspiration for me, and he and I are now working together to ensure the smoothest of transitions.

My warm thanks to all of you.
Alan