Draft:James J. DeCaro

  • Comment: This CV-like draft needs a lot of work. The infobox "office holder" is inappropriate here and should be replaced with an infobox for an academic or scientific. Randykitty (talk) 11:46, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

James J. DeCaro
Professor and Dean Emeritus at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology
Personal details
Born(1947-11-09)November 9, 1947
Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 23, 2019(2019-10-23) (aged 71)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Resting placeMount Hope Cemetery (Rochester)
Spouse
Patricia A. Mudgett
(m. 1972)
ChildrenJason & Tate DeCaro
Alma materUniversity at Buffalo, Syracuse University

Dr. James J. DeCaro (November 9, 1947 - October 23, 2019) was an American educator of the deaf and hard of hearing who served in a variety of roles during his 47-year career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, including Dean, Interim Director, Interim President, Founder and Director of PEN-International and the Center on Access Technology, and Professor and Dean Emeritus.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

DeCaro earned a B.S and M.S. in Civil Engineering at the University at Buffalo (Buffalo, New York) in 1969-1970,[11] and a Ph.D in Instructional Technology from Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York) in 1977. [5] He also received an honorary professorship at Tianjin University of Technology (Tianjin, China) in 2001, and an honorary doctorate from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Moscow, Russia) in 2003.

Professional Career

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DeCaro started his career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in 1971 as an Instructional Development Specialist, the first faculty member in the Engineering Technologies Department.[11] He subsequently held a number of progressively more responsible positions, including:[12]

  • Staff Chairperson, Construction Technologies Department (1 year)
  • Acting Chairperson, Department of Business Careers (1 year)
  • Curriculum Development Specialist, Special Programs (1 year)
  • Director, Division of Career Opportunities (3 years)
  • Dean (14 years)
  • Interim Director (1 year)
  • Senior Research Professor, Office of the President (19 years)
  • Interim President (1 year)

[12] [13] [3] [2] [10]

From 1979 to 1980 he was a visiting faculty member and Rotary International Scholar at Newcastle University (Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England).[9] From 1998 to 1999, he was a Fulbright Program Senior Scholar at Örebro University (Örebro, Sweden). [14] [15]

DeCaro served as NTID Interim Director for one year, from 1995 to 1996, when Dr. William E. Castle stepped down from the Director position.[10] He also served as NTID Interim President in 2010,[3] [2] after Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz left the institute to take up the position of President at Gallaudet University. He served for one year before current President Dr. Gerard J. Buckley was hired to fill the role. During this time, DeCaro spearheaded the campaign for and creation of Rosica Hall[16], NTID’s first dedicated research facility, which officially opened in 2013.[17] [18] [11]

In 2001, DeCaro founded the Postsecondary Education Network International (PEN-International)[4] [19] [6] [7] with the support of the Nippon Foundation of Japan.[20] PEN-International was “a collaborative and cooperative network of colleges and universities around the world that provide(d) postsecondary education for students who are deaf or hard of hearing,”[21] with the goal of improving said education “by sharing educational technology and conducting faculty development and training, particularly in developing countries.”[6] PEN-International and it’s successor program P-CEN worked with partner organizations in China, the Czech Republic, Russia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Malaysia.[22] [23] DeCaro and his staff traveled extensively to these countries. The program celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2011, and has since been merged with NTID’s Department of International Education Outreach.[6] [22]

DeCaro served on the Boards of Directors for multiple organizations, including but not limited to the Rochester Hearing & Speech Center[24], Highland Hospital[25], University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Strong Partners Health System[26], the American Society for Deaf Children, the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association, and Discovering Deaf Worlds[27]. DeCaro also served on RIT and NTID committees, such as the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, Policy Council Steering Committee, Student Hearing Board and Institute Hearing Board, Discipline Policies Committee, NTID Curriculum Committee, and the Institute Hearing and Appeals Board. Grants that DeCaro received include PEN-International, Project Inclusion, Project Access, Summit to Create a Cyber Community to Advance DHH in STEM, National Center on Deaf Health Research Subcontract, and Enrichment: Testing the Concept of Virtual Alliance for DHH STEM Students at the Postsecondary Level.[28]

Honors and Awards

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[17] [29] [9] [11] [30] [31] [20] [32] [15] [33]

Personal

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DeCaro was born in Poughkeepsie, New York to Italian-American parents. He has two sisters. He began his postsecondary education at Dutchess Community College (Poughkeepsie, New York), then transferred to the University at Buffalo (Buffalo, New York) to complete his B.S. and M.S degrees, and later completed a Ph.D. at Syracuse University (Syracuse, New York). He moved to Rochester, New York in 1971 when he began his career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at Rochester Institute of Technology, interviewing with D. Robert Frisina, NTID’s founding director.[18]

In late 1971, he met his wife, Patricia A. Mudgett, at NTID, who had begun her career there as an educator of the deaf in 1970, and whose parents were deaf educators at the Illinois School for the Deaf.[18] [34] They married in 1972, and have two children.[35] [36]

DeCaro’s Celebration of Life service & dinner reception was held on November 24, 2019 at NTID in Panara Theatre & the Dyer Arts Center.[11] [37]

References

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  1. ^ "Appointed: James J. DeCaro, dean of National". digitalcollections.rit.edu.
  2. ^ a b c Dougherty, Nate (November 4, 2010). "NTID names graduate new president | Rochester Business Journal".
  3. ^ a b c "FOCUS: Fall/Winter 2010 by National Technical Institute for the Deaf - Issuu". issuu.com. February 1, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "RIT - News & Events: NTID gets major funding, creates university partnership". March 10, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10.
  5. ^ a b chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1902&context=sumagazine
  6. ^ a b c d "Welcome to PEN-INTERNATIONAL". www.rit.edu.
  7. ^ a b PEN-International year three report: 1 March 2003 to 29 February 2004. Postsecondary Education Network-International, National Technical Institute for the Deaf. June 21, 2004 – via albert.rit.edu Library Catalog.
  8. ^ "RIT/NTID's Center on Access Technology Receives $1.6 Million to Create a Virtual Academic Community". AudiologyOnline.
  9. ^ a b c "James J. DeCaro | Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship | RIT". www.rit.edu.
  10. ^ a b c "Adobe Acrobat". acrobat.adobe.com.
  11. ^ a b c d e "RIT remembers Dean Emeritus James DeCaro". RIT.
  12. ^ a b "James J. DeCaro - National Technical Institute for the Deaf ..." yumpu.com.
  13. ^ "DeCaro named dean of NTID at RIT". digitalcollections.rit.edu.
  14. ^ "Rochester Institute of Technology | Fulbright Scholar Program". fulbrightscholars.org.
  15. ^ a b "James DeCaro | Fulbright Scholar Program". fulbrightscholars.org.
  16. ^ "Sebastian and Lenore Rosica Hall | National Technical Institute for the Deaf | RIT".
  17. ^ a b "NTID honors researchers with Sponsored Programs awards". RIT.
  18. ^ a b c "More than Luck". RIT.
  19. ^ https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1902&context=sumagazine
  20. ^ a b "Japanese foundation honors former NTID dean". The Daily Messenger.
  21. ^ DeCaro, James J. (June 21, 2008). ""Globaleyes": a partnership between The Nippon Foundation (Japan) and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (United States)". American Annals of the Deaf. 152 (5): 505–509. doi:10.1353/aad.2008.0007. PMID 18488538. S2CID 29703394 – via PubMed.
  22. ^ a b "International Educational Outreach | National Technical Institute for the Deaf | RIT". www.rit.edu.
  23. ^ Enano-Estopace, Eden. "The Technology of Silence". Philstar.com.
  24. ^ "Dr. James DeCaro Receives Local, International Honors".
  25. ^ "James DeCaro - Program Team - Advance Academic and Research Careers in Deaf Scholars - University of Rochester Medical Center".
  26. ^ "History - Information - National Center for Deaf Health Research (NCDHR) - University of Rochester Medical Center".
  27. ^ "Discovering Deaf Worlds December 2014 Newsletter, vol. 8, issue 2 by Discovering Deaf Worlds - Issuu". 25 December 2014.
  28. ^ "James J. DeCaro - National Technical Institute for the Deaf ..." yumpu.com.
  29. ^ "International Educational Outreach | National Technical Institute for the Deaf | RIT". www.rit.edu.
  30. ^ "Four Presidents Past Winners | Government and Community Relations | RIT". www.rit.edu.
  31. ^ "Dr. James DeCaro Receives Local, International Honors". RIT.
  32. ^ "Decaro Receives Visiting Professorship ROCHESTER". RIT.
  33. ^ "Community center to hold first Men of the Year awards". Democrat and Chronicle.
  34. ^ "Collection: IL67 Illinois School for the Deaf Project: Interview and memoir | UIS Archives/Special Collections". research.archivesspace.uis.edu.
  35. ^ "Adobe Acrobat". acrobat.adobe.com.
  36. ^ "Bryant: Why Pittsford parents chose city schools".
  37. ^ "James DeCaro Obituary (2019) - Pittsford, Ny, NY - Rochester Democrat And Chronicle". Legacy.com.